Congratulations to coach Bobby Bayliss

With a 7-0 sweep of Ball State, coach Bobby Bayliss notched his 400^th win with the Irish. His overall record over 39 seasons as a head coach in Division I tennis is an impressive 691-296-1. His Notre Dame teams have won the league championship on seven occasions and finished in the ITA top-20 on 11. Awards earned under his name include seven Big East Coach of the Year honors in the last 11 years and National Coach of the Year twice.

With the two-seed in the 2009 Big East Tournament and already knocking off Georgetown, Bayliss is well on his way to adding to his already-impressive resume. The Irish advance on to play South Florida in the semi-finals.

Helgeson named Big East Player of the Week

A 4-0 record (2-0 in first singles and 2-0 in first doubles) this past weekend was good enough to earn senior Brett Helgeson the honor of being the Big East men’s tennis Player of the Week. 

No. 24 Helgeson defeated South Florida’s No. 70 Lucas Jovita 7-6, 6-2 then beat Illinois’ No. 63 Marc Spicijaric 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1.  Helgeson teamed up with sophomore Tyler Davis to add two more wins at first doubles.

This is Helgeson’s second Player of the Week honor this season, putting him in elite company, as only one other tennis player (Louisville’s Austen Childs) has achieved the honor twice.

Irish Finish 1-2 in Blue Gray, host South Florida, Illinois this weekend

The No. 26 Irish were able to come away with a win over Mississippi State, and fell to Boise State and Wisconsin over the weekend at the Blue Gray National Tennis Clasic.

The best tennis match I’ve seen (complete with sound effects)

I work as a student manager, and while I can’t talk about any truly juicy details (like what goes on at football practice), I can talk about last Friday’s tennis contest, in which occurred the best (qualifier: only) singles match I’ve ever seen.