Feb. 26, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 33rd-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team claimed the doubles point and won five singles matches in straight sets to beat 63rd-ranked Purdue for the 10th consecutive time a 6-1 win on Saturday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Sophomore Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico clinched the doubles point with a win at No. 1 doubles, and sophomore Andrew Laflin won the decisive singles match at No. 6 singles for the Irish, who improve to 6-3 with the win and will travel to Northwestern on Sunday. Purdue falls to 4-4.
Irish seniors Trent Miller and Ryan Sachire jumped out to a fast start at No. 2 doubles by dropping just one point in building a 3-0 lead they would never lose in their 8-3 win over Laith Al-Agba and Scott Mayer. Purdue tied the doubles at 1-1 when Carl McCafferty and Derek Miller beat sophomore James Malhame and junior Ashok Raju 9-8 (7-1) at No. 3 doubles. The 53rd-ranked team of Taborga and Talarico then clinched the point by beating 50th-ranked Jason Marshall and Andrew Wakefield 8-6 at No. 1 doubles. The Irish broke Marshall’s serve at 7-6 after saving a game point to improve to 11-5 with their fourth straight win.
Sachire, Talarico and Laflin then gave Notre Dame a 4-0 lead with singles wins. The 17th-ranked Sachire opened his No. 1 singles match by winning the first seven games and the final three games of his 6-0, 6-4 win over 62nd-ranked Marshall to improve to 21-6 in singles. Talarico gave the Irish a 3-0 lead seconds later when he completed his 7-5, 6-0 win over McCafferty at No. 5 singles. Laflin then sealed the victory by defeating Mayer 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles for his fourth straight win.
Sophomore Casey Smith made it 5-0 when he beat Al-Agba 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. Wakefield won the only singles match for the Boilermakers when he downed Taborga 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. Junior Matt Daly closed out the 6-1 win by beating Derek Miller, brother of Irish senior Trent Miller, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles.
#33 NOTRE DAME 6, #63 PURDUE 1
Singles
No. 1: #17 Ryan Sachire (ND) def. #62 Jason Marshall (P) 6-0, 6-4
No. 2: Matt Daly (ND) def. Derek Miller (P) 6-3, 6-4
No. 3: Casey Smith (ND) def. Laith Al-Agba (P) 6-4, 6-3
No. 4: Andrew Wakefield (P) def. Javier Taborga (ND) 6-4, 6-3
No. 5: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Carl McCafferty (P) 7-5, 6-0
No. 6: Andrew Laflin (ND) def. Scott Mayer (P) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1: #53 Taborga/Talarico (ND) def. #50 Marshall/Wakefield (P) 8-6
No. 2: Trent Miller/Sachire (ND) def. Mayer/McCafferty (P) 8-3
No. 3: Al-Agba/Miller (P) def. James Malhame/Ashok Raju (ND) 9-8 (1)