From the beginning, Irish coach Bobby Bayliss has cited the depth of this year's team as a consistent point in their favor.The No. 49 Notre Dame men's tennis team proved his point resoundingly Sunday with a decisive 5-2 victory over No. 53 Purdue. Despite playing without senior tri-captain Luis Haddock and freshman Ryan Keckley, the Irish came out strong in doubles and continued their effective play through the singles matches. Haddock was representing his native Puerto Rico in the Davis Cup, and Keckley is nursing a sprained ankle from last week's match at Duke. "The whole team did a good job," freshman Stephen Bass said. "In doubles, we came out scared, but ended up with the win."The Haddock and Keckley duo plays at No. 1 doubles and is ranked No. 18 in the nation. Purdue took the first match from No. 2 Bass and Barry King with a score of 8-6, but Brent D'Amico and Matthew Scott won 8-5 at No. 1 and Paul Hidaka and Eric Langenkamp clinched the point at No. 3."[Hidaka and Langenkamp] allowed a big lead to dissipate," Bayliss said after the match, " but they showed poise at the break points.""I'm really proud of Paul and Erik," Scott said. "They were up 7-4, broken twice and were able to regain composure and save the break point at 8-7. I give a lot of credit to them, they really set the tone for singles."In singles, Langenkamp effectively demolished Filip Koziell 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 and No. 6 Patrick Buchanan defeated Sounak Chatterjee 6-1, 6-2. King clinched the match at No. 4 with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Colin Foster."It was great to see some of the lower guys step up," assistant coach Todd Doebler said. "It's pretty encouraging." "You never know how you're going to play when you're shorthanded," Bayliss said. "I was really pleased with [Buchanan] and [Langenkamp] to step in and win so decisively."At No. 2, Purdue's Paul Rose defeated D'Amico in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-3. At No. 1, Scott defeated South Bend native Troy Havens 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(10-6) in a tiebreaker third set. Havens graduated in 2000 from Penn High School in South Bend.David Robinson defeated Bass 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 1-0 (10-8) at No. 3, in a match that could have gone differently had the third set been played fully. Bass battled back from behind to take the first set, but was visibly tired in the second. This was Notre Dame's 15th consecutive win against Purdue. They will next host Wisconsin at noon Sunday.
