April 1, 2001
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The tenth-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team lost two third-set tiebreakers at the top of the singles lineup in dropping a hard-fought road match 4-3 to #19 Miami (Fla.) Sunday afternoon. The Hurricanes took the doubles point and split the singles matches to secure the victory. Michael Lang and Tomas Smid both registered three-set victories for Miami by winning tiebreakers in the final set. Lang, ranked 81st in the nation, beat Irish junior Casey Smith, who is ranked 91st, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-0) at No. 1 singles, while Smid knocked off 93rd-ranked Notre Dame junior Javier Taborga 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) at No. 2 singles.
Notre Dame falls to 13-4 on the season and has lost back-to-back matches for the first time in 2000-01 after Thursday’s loss to #22 Illinois, which snapped a 10-match winning streak that vaulted the Irish into the national top 10 for the first time since 1993. Miami improves to 15-2. Prior to the loss, the Irish were 9-0 in matches away from home this season. Notre Dame will return to action on Friday, when the Irish travel to Baylor to take on the 27th-ranked Bears at 3:00 p.m.
The Hurricanes took the doubles point on the strength of victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Lang and Jose Lieberman beat Smith and freshman Luis Haddock-Morales 8-6 at No. 2 doubles, while Johan Lindquist and Andrew Golub beat senior Matt Daly and sophomore Brian Farrell 8-5 at No. 3. The Irish squad of Taborga and classmate Aaron Talarico, ranked 20th, registered a 9-8 (7-4) win over the 37th-ranked pair of Smid and Peter Hoffman at No. 1 doubles.
Three Notre Dame players were victorious in singles. Haddock-Morales beat Lindquist 6-4, 7-5 at No. 3 singles and Talarico beat Hoffman 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in a close match at No. 4 singles to register his seventh consecutive win. Freshman Matthew Scott won his ninth straight match by beating Golub 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6 singles to improve to 11-1 in dual matches this season. Lieberman beat Farrell 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5 singles.
#19 MIAMI 4, #10 NOTRE DAME 3
Singles
No. 1: #81 Michael Lang (M) def. #91 Casey Smith (ND) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (0)
No. 2: Tomas Smid (M) def. #93 Javier Taborga (ND) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4)
No. 3: Luis Haddock-Morales (ND) def. Johan Lindquist (M) 6-4, 7-5
No. 4: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Peter Hoffman (M) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 5: Jose Lieberman (M) def. Brian Farrell (ND) 6-2, 6-2
No. 6: Matthew Scott (ND) def. Andrew Golub (M) 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1: #20 Taborga/Talarico (ND) def. #37 Hoffman/Smid (M) 9-8 (4)
No. 2: Lang/Lieberman (M) def. Haddock-Morales/Smith (ND) 8-6
No. 3: Lindquist/Golub (M) def. Daly/Farrell (ND) 8-5