Taborga delivers another upset with Irish sweep
By KATIE HUGHES
Associate Sports Editor
There were no letdowns at the Eck this weekend.
The No. 7 Irish faced No. 53 Purdue Sunday, and No. 64 Wisconsin Saturday, earning two more wins to improve their record to 9-3. The win marks the 12th consecutive time the Irish have beaten the Boilermakers.
"There are never really any easy matches," said sophomore Matt Scott.
On Sunday's match against Purdue, The Irish swept the singles matches against for the third time this season. Talarico finished first with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3 over Troy Havens. Scott improved to 12-0 this spring and 20-2 overall with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 5. Senior Andrew Laflin clinched the Irish victory with a 6-0, 6-4 triumph at No. 6, improving to 9-0 in singles this season. He has won 23 of his last 25 matches.
After the outcome was determined, 88th-ranked Smith defeated No. 101 Andrew Wakefield 7-6, 6-2 at No. 2 and sophomore Luis Haddock-Morales won 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 4 before Taborga, ranked 95th in singles, won 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 1.
In the doubles matches, senior Aaron Talarico and freshman Brent D'Amico earned their fifth win in a row with an 8-3 victory at No. 3 doubles. Seniors Casey Smith and Javier Taborga, the sixth-ranked doubles team in the nation, clinched the doubles point for Notre Dame with an 8-4 win at No. 1 over the 23rd-ranked pair of Scott Mayer and Dan Swan. Another team of seniors, James Malhame and Ashok Raju completed the Irish sweep with an 8-6 victory at No. 2.
On Saturday, the Irish beat Wisconsin 6-1, and Taborga, ranked No. 95, earned his second upset in two weeks, knocking off the Badgers' No. 37 ranked Danny Westerman 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. Taborga is now 9-2 in dual matches.
"[Javier's] win over Westerman was pretty big," said Scott.
After earning the doubles point, junior Brian Farrell had a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles. Haddock-Morales clinched the match for Notre Dame when he won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4.
"As a team, we're going to just keep aiming for perfection and keep trying to win every match," said Scott. "We can't get ahead of ourselves. We can't say we've done it. We just need to keep working towards our goal of winning a National Championship."
After the match had already been decided, Talarico won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 and Scott won 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 1-0 (10-1) at No. 5. Scott is now 19-2 in singles this season.
"I'm feeling really confident lately. Everything seems to be clicking," said Scott.
"Anything I can do to help the team win is always the most important thing."
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 18, 2002
