Notre Dame tennis: Irish open strong at home

The Notre Dame men's tennis team kicked off the Bobby Bayliss Invitational by claiming victory in 11 out of 17 matches.

The Irish played both doubles and singles matches against four opposing schools -- Michigan State, Cleveland State, Louisville and Western Michigan.

In a close match, Notre Dame junior Dougie Barnard defeated Pablo Mora of Western Michigan, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Sophomore Kenneth Sabacinski battled to win his second set in a 7-3 tiebreaker, winning the match 6-4, 6-5.

Senior Billy Pecor and freshman Josh Hagar cruised to an easy victory over Western Michigan's Nadin Indre and Andrew Cahn, 8-2.

And in an unconventional match, sophomore Eric Schnurrenberger paired up with Cleveland State's Matt Kuelker to beat Mac Roy and and Will David of Michigan State, 8-5.

Day two gets underway at 9 a.m. at the Eck Center.