Jan. 22, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 34th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team (3-0) stayed perfect on the season with a 5-2 victory over #62 Indiana (0-1) Saturday morning in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish won two of three in doubles to take a 1-0 lead and then registered straight-set victories at each of the bottom four positions in singles to defeat the Hoosiers at home for the first time since 1999.
The bottom portion of the lineup figures to be a strength for Notre Dame this season, and Saturday’s match bore that out. Senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) – Notre Dame’s only double winner on the day – defeated Neil Kenner 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 to put the Irish up 2-0. It was a rematch of the No. 3 contest in last year’s meeting between the schools, but on that occasion, it took D’Amico a third-set tiebreaker to down Kenner. The Irish co-captain is now 8-3 on the season.
At No. 5, sophomore Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) downed Ukrainian Dmytro Ishtuganov 6-3, 6-4 to put Notre Dame within one point of victory. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the native of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, who holds a 16-5 mark on the season and is 3-0 in dual action after playing in just one dual match as a freshman. Akhvlediani also moved to 10-2 against regional foes and 9-2 indoors this season.
Junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) clinched the victory and extended his team lead in singles victories with a 6-1, 7-5 triumph over John Stone at No. 6. He is 18-2 this season and has won six in a row and 15 of his last 16, dating back to September. Buchanan has won 26 consecutive matches when taking the opening set, and he is 10-1 indoors this season, as well as 12-1 vs. the Midwest Region, with the lone defeat coming against Indiana’s top player, Jakub Praibis of the Czech Republic, who is ranked 61st in the nation.
Fort Wayne native Ryan Recht notched a 6-3, 6-3 win over sophomore Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College), ranked 113th, at No. 2 singles for Indiana’s first point. The Irishman had been 7-1 against unranked players this season, with the lone defeat coming in a match tiebreaker in the season-opening tournament.
In a battle of two of the top freshmen in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Midwest Region, Notre Dame’s Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) prevailed 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) against IU’s Michael McCarthy at No. 4. Parbhu, now 14-4 on the season and 6-1 at home, was 18th – and first among freshmen – in the ITA regional rankings released last month. McCarthy, who advanced to the round of 16 in the ITA Midwest Championships (as did Parbhu), was 26th overall and third among rookies, behind Parbhu and Michigan’s Matko Maravic of Croatia (20th). The Irish freshman is now 3-0 in collegiate tiebreakers.
In a battle of top-80 players, Praibis notched a close two-set victory over sophomore Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School), ranked 77th, at No. 1, 6-4, 7-5. It was Bass’ first defeat since becoming nationally ranked earlier this month. The Czech was ranked 23rd in the preseason, but fell to 61st in the most recent set of national rankings. Bass became the third Notre Dame player to fall victim to Praibis this season, after the senior beat both freshman Andrew Roth (Houston, Texas/Tenney School) and Buchanan en route to reaching the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Championships. Praibis also has victories over 2004 graduates Luis Haddock and Matthew Scott to his credit during his collegiate career.
The doubles point came down to the No. 1 match, where D’Amico and sophomore Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) defeated Recht and Stone by a score of 8-5 in a hard-fought match. The Irish duo is 3-0 this spring after going winless in two matches together during the fall. The victory brought D’Amico and Keckley’s career record as a team to 10-10, and it was the 18th doubles-point-clinching victory in the career of Notre Dame’s co-captain, which ties him with Haddock in the career leaders and is just two shy of Aaron Talarico’s (’02) school record.
Bass and King were first off the court in doubles, claiming an 8-3 win over Kenner and McCarthy at No. 3. The sophomores are 4-1 together this season after going winless in five contests as a team during their rookie campaigns.
Notre Dame suffered its first doubles loss of the spring at No. 2, as Ishtuganov and Praibis prevailed 8-5 against Parbhu and junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.). It snapped a four-match winning streak for the Irish team.
Notre Dame will be right back in action on Sunday, when it heads to Wisconsin (1-0) for a Noon (CST) tilt with the Badgers.
The win improved Notre Dame’s all-time record to 998-428-4 (.699) in 83 years of varsity competition. The Irish are now just two victories shy of becoming the sixth Division I program to register 1,000.
Indiana had claimed 4-3 decisions in each of its previous two trips to Notre Dame, in 2001 and ’03. The Irish have 11 victories in the last 14 contests with the Hoosiers, though the schools have split their last six matches.
#34 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5, #62 Indiana Hoosiers 2
Singles
No. 1: #61 Jakub Praibis (IU) def. #77 Stephen Bass (ND) 6-4, 7-5
No. 2: Ryan Recht (IU) def. #113 Barry King (ND) 6-3, 6-3
No. 3: Brent D’Amico (ND) def. Neil Kenner (IU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 4: Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Mike McCarthy (IU) 6-1, 7-6 (10-8)
No. 5: Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) def. Dmytro Ishtuganov (IU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6: *Patrick Buchanan (ND) def. John Stone (IU) 6-1, 7-5
Order of Finish: 3, 5, 6*, 2, 4, 1
Doubles
No. 1: D’Amico/Ryan Keckley (ND) def. Recht/Stone (IU) 8-5
No. 2: Ishtuganov/Praibis (IU) def. Eric Langenkamp/Parbhu (ND) 8-5
No. 3: S. Bass/King (ND) def. Kenner/M. McCarthy (IU) 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*