UCLA
Notre Dame (NCAA Regionals)
No. 2 Seed Men's Tennis Defeats Notre Dame 4-2 In Regional Final
May 14, 2000 | Men's Tennis
May 14, 2000
WESTWOOD, Calif. -- The second-seeded and host UCLA Bruins defeated No. 32 Notre Dame 4-2 Sunday in the NCAA Men's Tennis Regional final held at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. With the win, UCLA advances to the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., hosted by the University of Georgia from May 20-28. The Bruins will face No. 15-seed Texas, who defeated Ohio State 4-3 today, in the NCAA Round of 16 on May 20.
UCLA, who defeated UMKC 4-0 Saturday to advance to the regional final, improves its record to 23-3 overall, while Notre Dame ends its 1999-2000 dual match campaign with a 13-11 mark.
The match came down to courts No. 1 and 5. With UCLA ahead 3-2, Notre Dame needed to pull off wins on both courts to grab the victory and advance to the NCAA Championships. Court No. 5 went to three sets, as Bruin freshman Erfan Djahangiri and Aaron Talarico were neck-and-neck. But Notre Dame's season came to a close when Bruin senior Jong-Min Lee clinched the match for the Bruins with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Irish senior Ryan Sachire in the top position.
Earlier in singles action, Irish sophomore Casey Smith handed freshman Jean-Julien Rojer his first dual match loss since losing to Stanford's Scotty Scott on Feb. 27, winning by a score of 6-4, 6-4. Freshman Lassi Ketola put UCLA ahead 2-1 when he defeated Notre Dame's Javier Taborga 6-1, 7-6(2) on court No. 4, and soon after, junior All-American Jean-Noel Grinda, ranked No. 47 in the nation, extended the lead to 3-1 when he beat Matt Daly 6-4, 6-3 on court No. 2. Notre Dame's Andrew Laflin then answered with a 6-4, 7-4 win over junior Chris Sands on court No. 6.
Earlier in the day, the Bruins won the doubles point after posting wins on courts No. 1 and 3. First to finish was the freshman duo of Ketola and Travis Rettenmaier, who defeated Notre Dame's Casey Smith and Matt Daly 8-4 on court No. 3. With the win, Rettenmaier and Ketola improve their overall record to 18-7. UCLA won the doubles point when the team of Grinda and Rojer, ranked No. 41 in the nation, beat the Irish tandem of Talarico and Taborga 8-3. Grinda and Rojer now own a 19-1 dual match record and a 19-2 overall mark.
The Bruins are playing without their No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles player, senior co-captain Brandon Kramer, who fractured his right wrist last Wednesday and will be out for the remainder of the post-season.
Doubles-- UCLA wins the point
No. 1 J. Grinda / J. Rojer (UCLA) def. A. Talarico / J. Taborga (ND) 8-3
No. 2 J. Lee / C. Sands (UCLA) vs. R. Sachire / T. Miller (ND) Suspended
No. 3 L. Ketola / T. Rettenmaier (UCLA) def. C. Smith / M. Daly (ND) 8-4
Singles
No. 1 Jong-Min Lee (UCLA) def. Ryan Sachire (ND) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
No. 2 Jean-Noel Grinda (UCLA) def. Matt Daly (ND) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 Casey Smith (ND) def. Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Lassi Ketola (UCLA) def. Javier Taborga (ND) 6-1, 7-6(2)
No. 5 Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) vs. Aaron Talarico(ND) Suspended
No. 6 Aaron Talarico (ND) def.Chris Sands (UCLA), 6-4, 7-4
