Mens Tennis: Hungry for a win, Irish prevail
By JOE LINDSLEY
Sports Writer
After a losing two matches in a row, the Irish regained their confidence and brightened hopes for the rest of the season when they defeated Ball State 5-2 Wednesday at Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Although the Cardinals, 13-7, began the match by winning the doubles point, the Irish won three straight singles matches to pull ahead, 3-1. The three remaining matches all extended to the third set — the seventh time this has happened to the Irish in eleven matches.
In the end, the Irish won two of those as they moved to 7-11 on the season and prepare to face off with No. 13 Kentucky Sunday in their regular season's penultimate event.
Tri-captain Luis Haddock was once again in position to clinch a match Wednesday, and his 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 triumph over former St. Joseph (South Bend) High School player Chris Varga gave the Irish the much sought-after victory.
Haddock, ranked 97th nationally, has contended with several ranked players of late and has seen some successes, including his recent wins over No. 55 Johan Brunstrom and No. 63 Thomas Haug, during Irish losses to Southern Methodist and Minnesota, respectively. Since spring break began, he has had two losses to ranked players — No. 14 Todd Widom of Miami and No. 67 Marcus Bernston of Boise State.
Patrick Buchanan was the initial player to direct the Irish towards their 14th straight victory over the Cardinals. He easily toppled Ball State's Klint Knable,6-4, 6-1. Then tri-captain Brian Farrell defeated Matt Laramore in 6-3 straight sets before tri-captain Matt Scott put Notre Dame within a point of victory and gave Haddock the opportunity to clinch.
Scott obtained his eighth win in his last 11 matches playing at the No. 2 flight by topping Matthew Baccarani 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo, playing in the last match on the court, topped Patrick Thompson 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Brent D'Amico yielded the Cardinals their only singles victory of the day when he was defeated by Kevin Burnett, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. With Burnett's win, the Cardinals brought the score to 3-2 with Haddock's and Lopez-Acevedo's matches still undecided.
The Cardinals swept the Irish in doubles. At the top of the lineup, Baccarani and Burnett top the duo of D'Amico and Scott 8-5. Then Knable and Andy Rhodes defeated the junior/sophomore pair of Ben Hatten and Paul McNaughton 8-5. After the doubles point was clinched, the Cardinals added to their initial domination with a 9-8 (7-5) victory over Farrell and Haddock at the No. 2 flight.
Notre Dame's next opponent, Kentucky, recently defeated the 19th-ranked Auburn Tigers 4-2 at their home courts. The Wildcat roster includes 13th-ranked Jesse Witten and 65th-ranked Karim Benmansour, who both were defeated in their singles matches against Auburn.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, April 10, 2003
