The University of Louisville men’s tennis team fell 4-3 to Indiana Wednesday evening.
“We got off to a good start by winning a clutch doubles point,” said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. “Nicolas and George won their first sets but IU surged back and took over. They played great. George and Nico were about to win their matches before it was suspended but it still would have left us a point short.”
The Cardinals opened the match by taking the doubles points with wins on courts one and two. The Hoosiers gained an early edge at the No. 3 spot where Zac Brodney and Bennett Crane defeated junior Nicolas Rouanet and sophomore Christopher Morin-Kougougheff 6-2. Louisville answered when the duo of senior Sean Donohue and freshman Parker Wynn notched its 10th win of the season with a 6-3 decision against No. 31 Raheel Manji and Keivon Tabrizi to even the doubles tally. The first point of the match came down to court two where junior Ciro Lampasas and sophomore George Hedley battled Antonio Cembellin and Stefan Lugonjic to a 6-6 tie before prevailing in a 7-5 tiebreaker to put Louisville up 1-0.
In singles action, Matthew McCoy defeated Lampasas 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4 to put the Hoosiers on the scoreboard. Brandon Crane added to Indiana’s lead when he beat Louisville sophomore Brandon Lancaster 6-4, 6-1 at the six-spot. Manji tacked on another point for the Hoosiers with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Morin-Kougoucheff at the No. 1 position The match was decided on court three where Cembellin topped Wynn 7-6, 6-3.
On court two, Rouanet was leading Tabrizi 7-6, 4-2 and Hedley had a 6-3, 6-6 edge against Oliver Sec on court five when their matches were suspended.
The Cardinals (4-3) will return to action on Feb. 14 when they play host to Austin Peay and Illinois State in a doubleheader at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.
Indiana 4, Louisville 1
Feb 8, 2017 at Bloomington, Ind.
Singles
1. Raheel Manji (IND) def. Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU) 7-5, 6-0
2. Keivon Tabrizi (IND) vs. Nicolas Rouanet (LOU) 6-7 (8-10), 2-4, unfinished
3. Antonio Cembellin (IND) def. Parker Wynn (LOU) 7-6, 6-3
4. Matthew McCoy (IND) def. Ciro Lampasas (LOU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Oliver Sec (IND) vs. George Hedley (LOU) 3-6, 6-6, unfinished
6. Bennett Crane (IND) def. Brandon Lancaster (LOU) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
1. Sean Donohue/Parker Wynn (LOU) def. #31 Raheel Manji/Keivon Tabrizi (IND) 6-3
2. Ciro Lampasas/George Hedley (LOU) def. Antonio Cembellin/Stefan Lugonjic (IND) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Zac Brodney/Bennett Crane (IND) def. Nicolas Rouanet/Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU) 6-2
Match Notes:
Louisville 4-3
Indiana 7-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,6,1,3)
Lori Korte
Assistant Sports Information Director