Michigan
Notre Dame
Michigan Storms Back to Defeat Notre Dame, 5-2
4/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Notre Dame gained a 1-0 advantage in the match by winning two of the three tightly contested doubles matches that ended by 8-6 scores. The Fighting Irish collected wins at No. 1 and No. 2 spots, while Michigan thwarted the sweep behind a strong performance from sophomore Henry Beam (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS) and freshman Chris Shaya (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Saddlebrook Academy-Fla.).
The Wolverines stormed back for the 5-2 victory behind wins at the No. 2 through No. 6 singles spots. Michigan received a pair of straight-set wins from senior co-captain John Long (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and sophomore Danny McCain (Largo, Fla./Canterbury School), and gained three-set victories from Beam, sophomore Ben Cox (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS) and freshman Zach Held (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central HS).
Notre Dame gained its only singles victory at the No. 1 spot as No. 10-ranked Ryan Sachire collected a 6-3, 6-3 win over senior Matt Wright (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Collegiate HS).
Michigan returns to Big Ten Conference action this weekend as it hosts Iowa (Saturday, April 15) and Wisconsin (Sunday, April 16) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The matches begin at 1 p.m. both days.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- Ryan Sachire (ND) d. Matt Wright, 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 -- John Long (U-M) d. Matt Daly, 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 -- Henry Beam (U-M) d. Casey Smith, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
No. 4 -- Danny McCain (U-M) d. Aaron Talarico, 7-6 (2), 6-4
No. 5 -- Ben Cox (U-M) d. Andrew Laflin, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 -- Zach Held (U-M) d. Brian Farrell, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Sachire/Trent Miller (ND) d. Wright/McCain, 8-6
No. 2 -- Talarico/Daly (ND) d. Long/Held, 8-6
No. 3 -- Beam/Chris Shaya (U-M) d. Smith/James Malhame, 8-6
N O T E S
-- Ben Cox claimed the clinching team point with a come-from-behind, three-set victory over Andrew Laflin in the No. 5 singles spot (3-6, 6-3, 6-4). Cox has a 13-12 singles record and is 8-7 in dual competition.
-- With his victory at No. 2 singles, John Long ended a career-long seven-match losing streak and in the process collected his 75th career singles win. Long has 75-39 career record and is 16-13 in competition this season.
-- The Wolverines posted their third straight 10-win season and gained 10 wins for the 13 time in the last 16 seasons.
-- Michigan slipped six spots to No. 26 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings (April 13). Notre Dame is No. 29.
Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
