Men's Tennis Repeats As BIG EAST Champions

Coral Gables, FL – The No. 2-seeded University of Miami men’s tennis team knocked off top-seeded Notre Dame, 4-2, Sunday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center to claim its seventh BIG EAST Tennis Championship in the last nine years.

With the win the Hurricanes (19-3) secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tennis Championships beginning May 12th.

Miami ranked 14th in the nation, jumped out to an early lead winning two of the three doubles matches in earning the doubles point. The Hurricanes then increased their lead to 2-0 when Jose Lieberman defeated Brian Farrell 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.

Notre Dame, the nation’s 12th ranked team, then mounted its comeback.Matt Daly downed Andrew Golub 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 6 spot and Aaron Talarico defeated Peter Hoffman 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.

BIG EAST Player of the Year Michael Lang pulled the Hurricanes on top 3-2 defeating Casey Smith 7-5, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.

Tomas Smid clinched the win for Miami at No. 2 singles, beating Javier Taborga in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Following the match head coach Jay Berger was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the second season in a row after leading Miami to back-to-back conference titles.

Championship Match – No. 2 Miami def. No. 1 Notre Dame – 4-2

DoublesNo. 1 Taborga/Talarico (ND) def. Smid/Hoffman (UM) 8-6

No. 2 Lang/Lieberman (UM) def. Smith/Malhame (ND) 8-5

No. 3 Golub/Lindqvist (UM) def. Haddock/Daly (ND) 9-7

Singles

No. 1 Michael Lang (UM) def. Casey Smith (ND) 7-5, 6-0

No. 2 Tomas Smid (UM) def. Javier Taborga (ND) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4*

No. 3 Johan Lindqvist (UM) vs. Luis Haddock (ND) DNF

No. 4 Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Peter Hoffman (UM) 6-3, 6-3

No. 5 Jose Lieberman (UM) def. Brian Farrell (ND) 6-3, 6-3

No. 6 Matt Daly (ND) def. Andrew Golub (UM) 6-1, 6-4*clinched the win