March 18, 2000

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The 36th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team swept the doubles for two points and won three singles matches to beat 38th-ranked UAB at the Blue-Gray National Classic at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, Ala. The Irish finish tied for fifth at the event and improve to 9-5 with their second win of the tournament. Notre Dame returns to action at 44th-ranked North Carolina on Sat., March 25, at 1:00 p.m.

Under the experimental format, Notre Dame won all three doubles matches to take a 2-0 lead into singles. The 37th-ranked team of sophomores Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico beat Tom Dalby and Alex Jung 8-4 at No. 1 doubles. Senior Trent Miller and Ryan Sachire and sophomores James Malhame and Casey Smith also posted 8-4 wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles.

Freshman Brian Farrell gave the Irish a 3-0 lead when he beat Paul Shoulin 7-5, 6-3 at No. 6 singles. Smith won Notre Dame’s fourth point when he downed Kolie Vanzyl 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Andrew Laflin rallied to beat Andre Van Der Merwa 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (11-9) after trailing 2-5 in the second set and 3-8 in the match tiebreaker. UAB won at Nos. 1 and 4 singles, while the No. 3 singles match was abandoned once Laflin clinched the win.

#36 NOTRE DAME 5, #38 UAB 2

Singles

No. 1: #19 Martin Volsetschlager (UAB) def. #10 Ryan Sachire (ND) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8)

No. 2: Casey Smith (ND) def. Kolie Vanzyl (UAB) 6-4, 6-4

No. 3: Matt Daly (ND) vs. Tom Dalby (UAB) 7-6, 4-5, abandoned

No. 4: Alex Jung (UAB) def. Javier Taborga (ND) 6-4, 6-2

No. 5: Andrew Laflin (ND) def. Andre Van Der Merwa (UAB) 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (11-9)

No. 6: Brian Farrell (ND) def. Paul Shoulin (UAB) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles

No. 1: #37 Taborga/Talarico (ND) def. Dalby/Jung (UAB) 8-4

No. 2: Trent Miller/Sachire (ND) def. Van Der Merwa/Volsetschlager (UAB) 8-4

No. 3: James Malhame/Smith (ND) def. Shoulin/Vazyl (UAB) 8-4