March 15, 2001

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The 22nd-ranked Notre Dame men's tennis team won four singles matches in straight set to beat 44th-ranked Tulane 4-0 Thursday in its first match at the Blue-Gray National in Montgomery, Ala. Junior Casey Smith clinched the win for the Irish with a 6-4, 7-5 win over 44th-ranked Michael Cogan at No. 1 singles. Notre Dame will take on the winner of the Wake Forest and Rice match in the quarterfinals at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. The Irish and Green Wave were slated to play doubles second as rain forced a shortening of the schedule, but the remaining singles matches were abandoned and doubles cancelled once the Irish had clinched the win. Notre Dame improves to 10-2 after its seventh consecutive victory.

Sophomore Brian Farrell improved to 18-3 on the season and 10-2 in dual matches, as he gave the Irish a 1-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 over Matthew Westerberg at No. 5 singles. Junior Aaron Talarico made it 2-0 when he beat Jorge Lieuanu 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4 singles. Freshman Matthew Scott then raised his dual-match singles record to a team-best 10-1 when he defeated Derya Rose 7-5, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.

Smith's win at No. 1 singles marked his second clinching win of the season with his victory at No. 1 singles. A pair of three-set matches at Nos. 2 and 3 singles were abandoned once the outcome of the match had been decided. Junior Javier Taborga trailed 2-5 in the third set at No. 2 singles, while freshmen Luis Haddock-Morales rallied from 3-6, 1-4 to lead 3-2 in the third set.

#22 NOTRE DAME 4, #44 TULANE 0
Singles
No. 1: Casey Smith (ND) def. #44 Michael Cogan (T) 6-4, 7-5
No. 2: #93 Javier Taborga (ND) vs. Victor Romero (T) 7-6, 3-6, 2-5, abandoned
No. 3: Luis Haddock-Morales (ND) vs. Mikko Viljamen (T) 3-6, 6-4, 3-2, abandoned
No. 4: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Jorge Lieuanu (T) 6-3, 7-5
No. 5: Brian Farrell (ND) def. Matthew Westerberg (T) 6-2, 6-1
No. 6: Matthew Scott (ND) def. Derya Rose (T) 7-5, 6-2