March 18, 2007
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 7 Notre Dame men’s tennis team used a dominating singles effort for the second straight day to roll past No. 14 Alabama, 4-1, in the championship match from the 2007 Blue Gray Classic Sunday afternoon.
The Tide won the doubles point before the Irish took four consecutive singles matches to win the match.
More details, including a scoring summary, will be forthcoming as they are available.
The Irish (15-2) extended their winning streak to a season-high nine matches. In fact, the winning streak is the longest for Notre Dame since the 2000-01 squad ripped off 10 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 has captured the Blue Gray Classic on three occasions in the program’s illustrious history. The Irish – winners of the tournament in 1993, 2001 and 2007 – are now tied with USC as the only school to win the event three times. Notre Dame improved its all-time mark in the tournament to 35-19.
The Irish return to action on March 25 when they travel to West Lafayette to play Purdue. First-serve against the Boilermakers is scheduled for noon.
#7 NOTRE DAME 4, #14 ALABAMA 1
Singles
1. #12 Stephen Bass (ND) d. Sammy Struyf (UA); 6-2, 6-2
2. #57 Sheeva Parbhu (ND) led Joseph Jung (UA); 6-0, 3-5 (dnf)
3. #107 Brett Helgeson (ND) d. Billy Mertz (UA); 6-0, 6-0
4. Barry King (ND) d. Javier Bes (UA); 6-3, 6-3
5. Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) led Ryan Keckley (ND); 7-5, 1-3 (dnf)
6. Andrew Roth (ND) d. Dan Buikema (UA); 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. Buikema/Thibaudeau (UA) d. #13 Parbhu/Keckley (ND); 8-2
2. Jung/Saketh Myneni (UA) led Helgeson/King (ND); 7-5 (dnf)
3. Bes/Struyf (UA) d. Bass/Roth (ND); 8-4
— ND —