Feb. 17, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Behind newly-ranked sophomore Greg Andrews (No. 49), the No. 30 Notre Dame men’s tennis team heads to No. 28 Michigan for a Saturday matchup at Varsity Tennis Center. The match, which can be followed via live stats, begins at 3 p.m.
Andrews, who has defeated three ranked foes already this season to soar into the national rankings, enters the match against the Wolverines with an 11-1 record at No. 2 singles and 9-3 mark at No.1 and 2 doubles. In Notre Dame’s near-upset of No. 6 Kentucky last Sunday, the Richland, Mich., product steamrolled No. 13 Alex Musialek, 6-3, 6-2, and teamed with partner Spencer Talmadge to handily defeat Musialek and Alejandro Gomez, 8-1, in doubles.
The Irish (8-4) are 3-4 so far this season against ranked foes, having defeated No. 44 Cornell (4-2), No. 39 Wake Forest (6-1) and No. 64 Northwestern (5-2) and having fallen to No. 17 Illinois (4-3), No. 29 Indiana (6-1), No. 10 Duke (6-1) and No. 6 Kentucky (4-3).
In doubles action the Irish are 8-4 on the year as a team. Notre Dame is 7-1 in matches where it wins the doubles point, but only 1-3 when it loses the point. Since head coach Bobby Bayliss flipped the doubles lineup around putting seniors Casey Watt and Niall Fitzgerald together at No. 1 doubles and Andrews and Talmadge at No. 2 doubles, the duos are a combined 9-2, with Andrews and Talmadge posting an impressive 6-0 mark.
The Wolverines (4-3) are led by the talented Evan King, who is ranked No. 8 in singles and No. 10 in doubles with partner Shaun Bernstein. He is 5-2 in singles so far this season and 5-1 in doubles.
In the lone common opponent between the two teams, No. 10 Duke defeated Michigan, 4-3, in Ann Arbor, and knocked off the Irish, 6-1, in Durham, N.C.
Following the trip to Ann Arbor, the Irish take a week off from competition before playing host to Michigan State (10 a.m.) and Marquette (5 p.m.) on Sunday, Feb. 26.
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