The University of Louisville men’s tennis team will play host to No. 29 Florida State Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The match will be televised on ACC Network Extra as part of the United States Tennis Association/ACC Match of the Week. Admission is free and fans are invited to attend a cookout prior to the match.
Following Friday’s match, the Cardinals will play host to Miami and Belmont in a doubleheader on Sunday.
“We are excited to start our outdoor portion of our season,” said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. “Playing the FGCU Invitational helped us in early January to be ready. I really hope the fans will come out to our first-ever home televised match on Friday at 4:30. We will be having a free cookout for them. We also need them for our double header on Sunday. We will be serving pizza and giving out free spirit towels.”
The Cardinals (11-3, 2-1 ACC) brings a seven-match win streak into the weekend, most recently defeating then-No. 28 Notre Dame 4-3 in an ACC contest at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center on March 11.
About Louisville: The Cardinals enter the weekend with an 11-3 overall record and a 2-1 mark in ACC. Louisville stands at No. 34 in the ITA team rankings released on March 21.
• The Cards have won their last seven matches dating back to Feb. 14.
• The duo of senior Sean Donohue and freshman Parker Wynn stands at No. 22 in the most recent ITA doubles rankings. The pair has compiled a 16-1 overall record including a 10-1 tally at No. 1.
• Wynn leads the Cardinals with a 27-8 overall singles record and is 11-2 in dual matches playing mostly at Nos. 2 and 3. He has won his last six matches.
• Sophomore Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff holds down the No. 1 spot in singles and had tallied a 17-8 overall record while going 6-3 in dual matches.
• Sophomore Brandon Lancaster is 21-9 in singles and carries a 10-4 mark in dual matches playing mostly at No. 5.
• Donohue leads the Cards in doubles with a 23-4 overall record.
• Louisville is 10-1 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center with its only loss of the season coming at the hands of No. 1 Virginia.
• Head coach Rex Ecarma is in his 27th season at UofL and has compiled a 433-286 overall record.
Up Next: UofL will close out the month of March with a rare triple header on March 31. Louisville will face Arkansas Pine Bluff at 10 a.m., Duquesne at 2:30 p.m. and will match up with Arkansas Pine Bluff again at 7 p.m.
Cards vs. the opponents
Florida State
Series Record: FSU leads 3-0
Last Meeting: April 8, 2016 – Florida State won 4-3 in Tallahassee
Scouting the Seminoles: Florida State enters the match with a 12-4 overall record and a 2-1 tally against ACC teams. The Seminoles recently dropped one spot to No. 29 in the ITA team rankings after a pair of conference wins over Clemson and Miami. Prior to that, FSU upset in-state rival then-No. 15 Florida 4-2.
• Florida State is led in singles by No. 52 Aziz Dougaz who has collected a 6-3 record at No. 1 while No. 125-ranked Guy Iradukunda carries a 15-10 record and is 8-5 in dual matches after splitting time between Nos. 1 and 2. The two have teamed for a 10-0 doubles record in dual matches and are No. 71 in the ITA doubles rankings.
Miami
Series Record: Miami leads 2-1
Last Meeting: April 10, 2016 – Miami won 5-2 at Miami
Scouting the Hurricanes: Miami enters Sunday’s match with a 6-6 overall record and an 0-3 mark in ACC play. Most recently, the Hurricanes dropped a 7-0 decision at the hands of then-No. 28 Florida State. Prior to that, they lost 4-3 to No. 29 Minnesota and 5-1 to No. 17 Georgia Tech in an ACC matchup. Miami opened the conference season with a 4-3 loss to Clemson.
•Miami is led by Piotr Lomacki who carries a 7-4 mark in singles at No. 1. Lomacki has also teamed with Nile Clark for a 7-1 record at No. 2 doubles.
Belmont
Series Record: Louisville leads 3-0
Last Meeting: April 15, 2016 – Louisville won 6-1 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Scouting the Bruins: The Bruins (7-9)recently split a doubleheader, beating Austin Peay 6-1 and falling 4-0 to No. 44 Auburn on March 18. Cedric Dujacquier has registered a 5-10 singles record at No. 1 while Zak Khan carries an 8-6 mark at the two-spot. The doubles team of Dujacquier and Hendrik Inno is 8-7 at No. 1.
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Lori Korte
Assistant Sports Information Director
University of Louisville Athletics
