|
Men's Tennis
Men's Tennis Wins 10 Of 12 Matches On First Day Of Tom Fallon Invitational
Sept. 27, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame men's tennis team opened its season by winning 10 of 12 matches, all against William & Mary, on the first day of the Tom Fallon Invitational at the Courtney Tennis Center and Eck Tennis Pavilion Thursday afternoon. The Irish won six of eight singles matches and then used four new doubles teams to sweep the doubles matches. Play continues tomorrow in the Tom Fallon Invitational as Notre Dame takes on Purdue (singles only) at 11:00 a.m., Indiana State (singles only) at 3:00 p.m. and Harvard (doubles only) at 5:00 p.m. Javier Taborga (La Paz, Bolivia), ranked 76th in the country, came back from losing the first set to defeat Sean Kelleher 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-2). Captain Casey Smith (Leawood, Kan.), ranked 38th nationally, also won his season opener 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 over Geoffrey Russell. 100th-ranked sophomore Luis Haddock-Morales (Caguas, Puerto Rico) continued his success in the Tom Fallon Invitational by defeating Joe Brooks 6-2, 6-1. With his two victories (he also won in doubles), Haddock-Morales improved to 10-0 in combined singles and doubles play at the Tom Fallon. Fellow sophomore Matthew Scott (Paris, France) defeated Matt Davis 6-3, 6-3, while senior Andrew Laflin (Tampa, Fla.) beat Jeff Malmgren 6-1, 6-2. Junior Brian Farrell (Lilburn, Ga.) downed Alexander Fish 6-4, 6-2.
Three of Notre Dame's doubles teams had never played together and the fourth, that of seniors Smith and Taborga, had played teamed up only twice -- in their first collegiate tournament as freshmen -- and had never been victorious. Nonetheless, all were victorious Thursday. Smith and Taborga, ranked 34th in the nation, beat Kelleher and Russell 9-8 (7-3). The win brought Taborga's career doubles record in the Tom Fallon Invitational to 8-0. Haddock-Morales teamed with senior Ashok Raju (Morgantown, W.Va.) to defeat Brooks and Fish 8-2, while Farrell and freshman Brent D'Amico (Centennial, Colo.) beat Malmgren and Jeff Kader 8-6. Senior James Malhame (Douglaston, N.Y.) and freshman Paul McNaughton (Hinsdale, Ill.) completed the doubles sweep with an 8-3 win over Davis and Charles Briggs.
The Irish were scheduled to open their season September 14-16 at the Rice Invitational, but the tournament was cancelled because of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Tom Fallon Invitational, known as the Irish Invitational until the name was changed in 1988, honors Notre Dame coaching legend Tom Fallon, who coached the Irish for 31 years from 1957-87. Fallon, a member of the ITA Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame, amassed a career record of 511-200 and helped Notre Dame to a share of the 1959 national title. The tournament was changed from a "flight" format to a "hidden dual" format in 2000. Teams play simulated matches against each other, but there are no team scores recorded. Each scheduled "match" will consist of either eight singles matches or four doubles matches. Singles matches consist of two sets and a supertiebreaker (first to 10 points) instead of a third set. Doubles matches are one eight-game pro set. Collegiate Game Scoring (CGS) is utilized -- as it will be for all ITA-sanctioned events this fall. It is basically a "one-ad" format, a game point ensues on the second deuce of a game. All individual results are counted for ranking purposes. Singles #76 Javier Taborga (ND) d. Sean Kelleher (WM) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-2) #38 Casey Smith (ND) d. Geoffrey Russell (WM) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 Jeffrey Kader (WM) d. Aaron Talarico (ND) 6-3, 6-3 #100 Luis Haddock-Morales (ND) d. Joe Brooks (WM) 6-2, 6-1 Matthew Scott (ND) d. Matt Davis (WM) 6-3, 6-3 Andrew Laflin (ND) d. Jeff Malmgren (WM) 6-1, 6-2 Brian Farrell (ND) d. Alexander Fish (WM) 6-4, 6-2 Charles Briggs (WM) d. Brent D'Amico (ND) 6-4, 7-5 Doubles #34 Smith/Taborga (ND) d. Kelleher/Russell (WM) 9-8 (7-3) Haddock-Morales/Ashok Raju (ND) d. Brooks/Fish (WM) 8-2 D'Amico/Farrell (ND) d. Kader/Malmgren (WM) 8-6 James Malhame/Paul McNaughton (ND) d. Briggs/Davis (WM) 8-3 TOM FALLON INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE OF PLAY (REVISED) FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 9:00 a.m. -- singles only Harvard vs. Wisconsin Indiana State vs. Michigan State Ball State vs. Michigan 11:00 a.m. -- singles only Notre Dame vs. Purdue William & Mary vs. Rice 1:00 p.m. -- singles only Michigan vs. Harvard Ball State vs. Wisconsin 2:00 p.m. -- singles only William & Mary vs. Michigan State 3:00 p.m. -- singles only Notre Dame vs. Indiana State Rice vs. Purdue 5:00 p.m. -- doubles only Notre Dame vs. Harvard William & Mary vs. Michigan Ball State vs. Rice Indiana State vs. Michigan State Purdue vs. Wisconsin SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 9:00 a.m. -- singles only Notre Dame vs. Harvard Purdue vs. William & Mary Ball State vs. Michigan State 11:00 a.m. -- singles only Wisconsin vs. Michigan Indiana State vs. Rice 1:00 p.m. -- singles only Notre Dame vs. Ball State 2:00 p.m. -- singles only Michigan vs. William & Mary Michigan State vs. Wisconsin 3:00 p.m. -- singles only Indiana State vs. Purdue Rice vs. Harvard 5:00 p.m. -- doubles only Notre Dame vs. Purdue Harvard vs. Indiana State Ball State vs. Wisconsin Michigan State vs. William & Mary Michigan vs. Rice SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 9:00 a.m. -- singles only Notre Dame vs. Michigan Harvard vs. Wisconsin Indiana State vs. William & Mary 11:00 a.m. -- singles only Michigan State vs. Purdue Ball State vs. Rice 1:00 p.m. -- doubles only William & Mary vs. Harvard Notre Dame vs. Michigan Ball State vs. Michigan State Rice vs. Wisconsin Indiana State vs. Purdue |
    
|
|||||||||||||||||||
