March 25, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 5 Notre Dame men’s tennis team cruised to its 10th straight win with a 7-0 rout of Purdue Sunday afternoon at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Irish improve to 16-2 overall, while the Boilermakers drop to 8-5.
The Notre Dame winning streak is the longest for the Irish since the 1989-90 squad ripped off 15 consecutive matches. The school record winning streak is 29 matches set over the course of three seasons (1965-67). The longest single-season winning streak is 20 matches during the 1971 season.
Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead after sweeping all three doubles matches. Senior Barry King (Dublin, Ireland) and sophomore Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, KS) opened doubles action with a dominating 8-2 victory over Eric Hodgman and Kurt Zaske at No. 2. King and Helgeson improved to 19-7 overall and 11-4 in dual matches.
The seventh-ranked tandem of junior Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, NE) and senior Ryan Keckley (South Bend, IN) clinched the point for the Irish at the top doubles position. They upended Branko Kuzmanovic and Paul Rose by the score of 8-6. Parbhu and Keckley, who lead all Notre Dame doubles’ teams in overall victories, now stand 21-10 overall and 7-9 in dual action. They also registered their fourth doubles’ point clinching victory of the season.
Senior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, NY) and junior Andrew Roth (Houston, TX) closed doubles play with an 8-5 triumph over Paul Foley and Griffin Nienberg at No. 3. Bass and Roth improved to 12-5 overall and 9-4 in dual matches – all taking place in the third position.
King was the first Notre Dame player off the court following his 6-4, 6-4 straight-set victory over Zaske at No. 4. He upped his overall record to 25-6 on the season and 14-2 in dual action. King now stands 82-35 for his career overall and 60-26 in dual play. He extended his winning streak to a team-best 11 consecutive victories.
#8 Bass was the next Notre Dame player to pick up a victory. He had little trouble with Kuzmanovic at No. 1, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Bass (26-8, 15-2) leads the Irish in both total victories and dual match wins. He has captured each of his last nine matches.
Keckley clinched the victory for Notre Dame. He knocked off Foley, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5. Keckley now stands 18-4 overall and 11-2 in dual play. The victory also marked the 60th of his career.
#102 Helgeson followed with the fourth consecutive straight-set victory. He defeated Hodgman at No. 3, 6-1, 6-4. Helgeson improved to 23-5 overall and 15-2 in dual matches. He now stands 46-16 overall and 32-12 in dual action over his career.
Roth got past Warner, 6-1, 6-2, in straight sets at No. 6. Roth now stands 17-10 overall and 9-5 in dual matches.
Parbhu closed the scoring with a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (4) victory over Rose. He improved to 23-9 overall and 13-3 in dual action. Parbhu has a gaudy 88-24 overall career record.
Notre Dame returns to action on Wednesday, March 28 at Michigan State. First-serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (EST).