Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Men's Tennis Takes First Loss to No. 7 Notre Dame
2/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 3, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - The first home loss by a Northwestern tennis team at the Combe Tennis Center was experienced by the No. 45 men's team, as they fell to No. 7 Notre Dame Sunday by a score of 5-2.
"We forced a good team to play well," head coach Paul Torricelli said. "It was a big match for us, and I give a lot of respect to Notre Dame. They rose to the occasion."
The Wildcats (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) secured the doubles point in dramatic fashion. After losing in the No. 1 position to the sixth-ranked team in the country, freshman Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and junior Josh Axler (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) defeated their No. 3 opponents, 8-4, to even the score. In the No. 2 match, NU's Jackie Jenkins (College Park, Ga./Westlake) and Russell Bennett (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) went to a 8-6 tiebreaker before the Wildcats came away with the win and the doubles point.
The only other point scored by a Northwestern player would come from Hanus at the No. 2 singles position. The freshman defeated senior Aaron Talarico with a tiebreaker in the first set, the finished the match off easily with a 6-2 score.
"Tommy Hanus is the best looking freshman I've seen this year," Notre Dame head coach Bob Bayliss said after the match. "Northwestern is a much improved team this season."
Axler had his dual match winning streak snapped at 12 when he lost to Matthew Scott, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. Axler had not lost a singles match in collegiate dual play since March 21, 2001.
The Wildcats will host Ball State next Saturday to conclude their six match homestand.
No. 7 Notre Dame 5, No. 45 Northwestern 2
Doubles
1. No. 6 Javier Taborga/Casey Smith, ND def. Ryan Edlefsen/Joost Hol, 8-5
2. Jackie Jenkins/Russell Bennet, NU def. James Malhame/Ashok Raju, 9-8(6)
3. Tommy Hanus/Josh Axler def. Aaron Talarico/Brent D'Amico, 8-4
Singles
1. No. 95 Javier Taborga def. Ryan Edlefsen 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
2. Tommy Hanus def. Aaron Talarico, 7-6(5), 6-2
3. No. 88 Casey Smith def. Jamie Sahara, 6-3, 6-0
4. No. 83 Luis Haddock-Morales def. Jackie Jenkins, 7-6(7), 6-4
5. Matthew Scott def. Josh Axler, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
6. Andrew Laflin def. Chuck Perrin, 7-5, 4-6
