Feb. 24, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 26th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team won the doubles point and won four of six singles matches to defeat 30th-ranked Northwestern 5-2 on Saturday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish had a 2-0 lead before Northwestern tied the match at 2-2. Notre Dame used wins at Nos. 2 and 6 singles to clinch the win. The Irish improve to 7-2 with the victory, while the Wildcats fall to 6-1 after their first loss. Notre Dame returns to action on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. match at Purdue.
Senior Matt Daly and sophomore Brian Farrell won 8-4 at No. 3 doubles over Josh Axler and Ryan Edlefsen to set up sophomore Luis Haddock-Morales and junior Casey Smith. The Irish No. 2 pair beat Russell Bennett and Jackie Jenkins 8-6 at No. 2 doubles to clinch the point. Northwestern’s Bard Erickson and Joost Hol edged 14th-ranked juniors Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico 9-8 (7-5) at No. 1 doubles.
Talarico put Notre Dame ahead 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jamie Sahara at No. 4 singles before Northwestern won at Nos. 1 and 3 singles to knot the match at 2-2. The 88th-ranked Taborga held off Erickson 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 at No. 2 singles for a 3-2 lead. The Irish then won a pair of matches in third-set tiebreakers for the 5-2 win. Freshman Matthew Scott provided the clinching win when he saved a Northwestern match point in his 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6) win over Josh Axler at No. 6 singles. Farrell finished completed the win with a long 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (12-10), 7-6 (7-5) win over Edlefsen at No. 5 singles after saving three match points against him.
#26 NOTRE DAME 5, #30 NORTHWESTERN 2
Singles
No. 1: Jackie Jenkins (N) def. Casey Smith (ND) 6-1, 7-6 (5)
No. 2: #88 Javier Taborga (ND) def. Brad Erickson (N) 6-4,5-7, 6-1
No. 3: Joost Hol (N) def. Luis Haddock-Morales (ND) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
No. 4: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Jamie Sahara (N) 6-1, 6-1
No. 5: Brian Farrell (ND) def. Ryan Edlefsen (N) 6-7 (5), 7-6 (10), 7-6 (5)
No. 6: Matthew Scott (ND) def. Josh Axler (N) 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (6)
Doubles
No. 1: Erickson/Hol (N) def. #14 Taborga/Talarico (ND) 9-8 (5)
No. 2: Haddock-Morales/Smith (ND) def. Russell Bennett/Jenkins (N) 8-6
No. 3: Matt Daly/Farrell (ND) def. Axler/Edlefson (N) 8-4