Notre Dame tops Wisconsin, drops match to Miami
By RACHEL BIBER
Sports Writer
The Irish had their opponents right where they wanted them, but they couldn't get the job done.
After a 7-0 blanking of the Wisconsin Badgers on Friday, 29th-ranked Notre Dame was ready to take full advantage of the home court edge against 32nd-ranked Miami (Fla.), but the Hurricanes had other plans, taking Sunday's match-up, 5-2.
"We had a good crowd, and we were on our home court," Irish coach Bob Bayliss said. "It's an opportunity we let slip away, and it's a big disappointment to me."
Notre Dame's sweeping victory over Wisconsin began the weekend's play on a much sweeter note, with each player in the lineup coming away with straight set victories in singles play.
The Irish started against the Badgers by stealing away the doubles point with an intense and narrow victory in the decisive No. 1 match by the 53rd-ranked duo of Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico. The two rallied for a 9-8 (7-1) win over 42nd-ranked David Chang and Scott Rutherford.
Down 3-6, Talarico and Taborga came up with two key breaks of serve and won four consecutive games to take a 7-6 lead. In the tiebreaker, they stormed out to a 5-0 lead before eventually taking the match and securing the doubles point for the Irish.
Seniors Trent Miller and Ryan Sachire had no problems breezing to an 8-1 victory at No. 2 doubles over the Badger's Justin Baker and Adam Schumacher.
Matt Daly, seeing action for the first time since being hampered by a shoulder injury, and Ashok Raju were tripped up at No. 3 doubles 9-8 (12-10) by Wisconsin's Jason Gonzaga and Danny Westerman, in a match that featured a number of match points for both teams in the tiebreak.
Sophomores Casey Smith and Andrew Laflin quickly cushioned the Irish lead with wins at No. 2 and No. 5 singles respectively. Smith downed Wisconsin's Change 6-4, 6-4, while Laflin edged by Stefan Reist 7-6 (7-5) in the first set before steamrollering through the second set, 6-0.
Taborga clinched the win for the Irish at No. 4 singles with a 6-4, 7-5 win over the Badgers' Schumacher. After blowing the second set wide open with a commanding 4-0 lead, Taborga watched his opponent creep back in contention for the set, but held on for the win.
The Irish completed the 7-0 sweep of the Badgers by claiming the remaining three matches in second-set tiebreakers.
Seventeenth-ranked Sachire topped Wisconsin's Westerman 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 1 singles, while Notre Dame's Talarico came back from a 2-5 deficit in the second set to gain victory over Rutherford 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) at No. 4 singles. Brian Farrell also mounted a second-set comeback by rallying from 2-4 to overcome the Badgers' Dustin Friedman 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
After the Badgers left town, the Miami Hurricanes came whirling through to hand the Irish their first loss since a Jan. 29 defeat against the Indiana Hoosiers, snapping a four-match winning streak. The loss left Notre Dame with a 5-3 record, while Miami remains undefeated with seven wins.
Miami notched a 1-0 lead by securing the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles. The Hurricanes' Mike Lang and Jose Lieberman clinched the doubles point by rallying for a 9-8 (7-4) win over Sachire and Miller at No. 2 doubles. The Irish pairing had the opportunity for victory with two match points at 7-6, but let the match slip away.
Notre Dame's Daly and Raju also witnessed a comeback by their opponent, as Miami's Mark Arrowsmith and Joel Berman overcame a 5-2 deficit to pull out an 8-6 victory. The No. 1 doubles match was suspended at 7-7 between Talarico and Taborga, and the Hurricanes' Hoffman and Smid when the doubles point was awarded to Miami.
All-American Sachire and Laflin provided the lone points for the Irish by locking up victory in the Nos. 1 and 4 singles matches, respectively.
Sachire conducted business as usual, improving his singles record to 20-6 on the year with a 6-3, 6-2 drubbing of the Hurricanes' Smid. Laflin had no problems disposing of Miami's Arrowsmith, breezing to victory, 6-0, 6-0.
After the two Irish wins, the Hurricanes tore through the rest of the Irish lineup, earning straight-set victories at Nos. 2, 3, and 4 singles. The Hurricanes' Johan Lindquist topped Daly 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2, Hoffman defeated Irish sophomore Smith 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3, while the Hurricanes' Lieberman barely escaped Talarico 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 at No. 5.
Disappointment characterized the Irish camp after the Hurricanes claimed victory, but the opportunities to top the rival opponent were just not seized quickly enough.
"Miami has a good team. I give them a lot of credit," Bayliss said. "We just didn't come through. Against Wisconsin, they were the ones to blink — against Miami, we were the ones to blink."
The team will attempt to return to winning ways Saturday at home against Purdue.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 22, 2000
