April 15, 2000

MUNCIE, Ind. — The 29th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team won the doubles point and won four of six singles matches to beat 49th-ranked host Ball State 5-2 on Saturday. The Irish won four singles matches in straights to complete their regular season with a 10-9 record. Notre Dame returns to action when it travels to Miami for the BIG EAST Championships, to be held April 20-23, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Complex.

Seniors Ryan Sachire and Trent Miller beat 37th-ranked Ryan Baxter and Jason Pressel 8-3 at No. 1 doubles, and junior Matt Daly and sophomore Aaron Talarico won 8-2 over Kevin Burnett and Andrew Seni at No. 2 doubles. Ball State’s Edgardo Rivera and Michael Westerhof beat sophomores James Malhame and Casey Smith 9-8 (7-4) at No. 3 doubles.

Leading 1-0 after doubles, the Irish won four singles matches without losing to a set to beat the Cardinals for the 12th consecutive time. Tenth-ranked All-American Ryan Sachire beat Baxter 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, while Smith won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 over Seni. Talarico beat Rivera 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles, while Malhame beat Chris Varga 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6 singles. Ball State used wins by Pressel at No. 2 singles and Westerhof at No. 5 singles for its two points.

#29 NOTRE DAME 5, #49 BALL STATE 2

Singles

No. 1: #10 Ryan Sachire (ND) def. Ryan Baxter (BS) 6-4, 6-1

No. 2: Jason Pressel (BS) def. Matt Daly (ND) 6-7, 6-3, 1-0 (13-11)

No. 3: Casey Smith (ND) def. Andrew Seni (BS) 6-2, 6-1

No. 4: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Edgardo Rivera (BS) 6-2, 6-2

No. 5: Michael Westerhof (BS) def. Andrew Laflin (ND) 6-2, 7-6

No. 6: James Malhame (ND) def. Chris Varga (BS) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles

No. 1: Trent Miller/Sachire (ND) def. #37 Baxter/Pressel (BS) 8-3

No. 2: Daly/Talarico (ND) def. Kevin Burnett/Seni (BS) 8-2

No. 3: Rivera/Westerhof (BS) def. James Malhame/Smith (ND) 9-8 (4)