Brandon Pierpont Class: Senior Hometown: St. Petersburg, FL High School: Tampa Preparatory Height / Weight: 6-1 / 170

Southpaw walk-on adds depth to the Irish ... has improved greatly in his first year on the team, mostly due to his tremendous work ethic ... has made dramatic change to his forehand and improved his volleys ... aggressive player likes to come to the net ... possesses a fierce determination to improve ... not expected to see action in 2005-06 ... the team's top student, boasting 3.474 cumulative GPA.

AS A FRESHMAN: Made collegiate debut in Tom Fallon Invitational, going 0-3 in singles ... also paired with Yuichi Uda for a loss in doubles ... that team then clinched doubles point with 8-1 victory at No. 3 against Indianapolis.

IN NON-COLLEGIATE ACTION: Reached doubles final in ITA Summer Circuit event at Florida State in 2005 ... lost in second round in singles in the ITA National summer championships ... played doubles with Yuichi Uda, falling in opening-round tiebreaker.

HIGH SCHOOL & PERSONAL DATA: Two-sport athlete at Tampa Preparatory School ... three-time letterwinner in tennis and collected a junior-varsity letter in soccer as a freshman ... played No. 1 for Tampa Prep when he was in eighth grade ... National Merit Scholar finalist ... born July 8, 1985, in York, Pa. ... son of Barbara Hickey and Brian Pierpont ... has two siblings ... sister Yvonne played volleyball at Villanova ... sister Brittany will play volleyball at Boston College next year ... enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters as a member of its honors program.