The University of Louisville men’s tennis team defeated Miami 4-1 in an ACC matchup Sunday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Cardinals (12-4, 3-2 ACC) will return to action against Belmont in part two of Sunday’s doubleheader at 6 p.m.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. “To me, Miami is one of the most talented teams in the conference, they can beat any team in the conference… they’ve got a great coaching staff, so I know they came in prepared.”
The Cards opened the match by earning a highly-competitive doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Miami gained an early edge on court two where Piotr Lomacki and Nile Clark defeated sophomore Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and junior Ciro Lampasas 6-3. Louisville’s No. 22-ranked duo of senior Sean Donohue and Parker Wynn improved to 17-1 on the season with a 6-3 decision against Jesse Flores and Max Andrews to even the doubles tally on court one. At the three-spot, sophomore George Hedley and junior Nicolas Rouanet built a 5-1 lead and held off a rally by Christian Langmo and Dane Dunlap to win 6-4 and clinch the doubles point.
“liked the way it started in doubles play,” said Ecarma. “We expect great things from our No. 1 team – that’s why they’re No. 22 in the country. It was nice to see No. 3 doubles contribute to the doubles point today. I was really proud of George and Nico.”
In singles action, sophomore Brandon Lancaster quickly added to Louisville’s lead with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Niclas Genovese at No. 5.
Miami (6-7, 0-4 ACC) got on the scoreboard on court three where Andrews defeated Rouanet 6-3, 6-1 to cut the lead in half.
Wynn extended Louisville’s lead to 3-1 with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Langmo at the two-spot. The match was decided on court one where Morin-Kougoucheff edged Lomacki 6-4, 6-4 to deliver the Cardinals’ fourth point.
On court four, Hedley was leading Flores 5-4 in the second set after the Miami player prevailed 7-6 in the first when their match was halted. In the other suspended match, Donohue fell 6-4 to Clark in the first set, but was leading 5-3 in the second set at No. 6.
“Brandon looked like a buzz saw out there, he was just tough as nails on court five,” said Ecarma. “When it was close on a lot of courts and us barely winning 2-1, Parker came back from being down in the second set to win 6-4, 7-5. Kougoucheff could have been in trouble on several occasions on court one, but found a way to play his two best games of the match in the second set and close it out against one of the ACC’s best players
#34 Louisville Men’s Tennis 4, Miami
March 26, 2017 at Louisville, Ky.
(Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
Singles
1. Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU) def. Piotr Lomacki (UM) 6-4, 6-4
2. Parker Wynn (LOU) def. Christian Langmo (UM) 6-4, 7-5
3. Max Andrews (UM) def. Nicolas Rouanet (LOU) 6-3, 6-1
4. George Hedley (LOU) vs. Jesse Flores (UM) 6-7, 5-4, unfinished
5. Brandon Lancaster (LOU) def. Niclas Genovese (UM) 6-2, 6-0
6. Sean Donohue (LOU) vs. Nile Clark (UM) 4-6, 5-3, unfinished
Doubles
1. #22 Sean Donohue/Parker Wynn (LOU) def. Jesse Flores/Max Andrews (UM) 6-3
2. Piotr Lomacki/Nile Clark (UM) def. C. Morin-Kougoucheff/Ciro Lampasas (LOU) 6-3
3. George Hedley/Nicolas Rouanet (LOU) def. Christian Langmo/Dane Dunlap (UM) 6-4
Match Notes:
Miami 6-7, 0-4 ACC
Louisville Men’s Tennis 12-4, 3-2 ACC; National ranking #34
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,3,1,2)
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Lori Korte
Assistant Sports Information Director
University of Louisville Athletics