The University of Louisville men’s tennis team swept Austin Peay 7-0 in the second half of a doubleheader on Sunday evening at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. With the victory, the Cardinals improve to 4-3 on the season.
“A win is always nice,” said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. “We needed that, actually. We’ve lost a few lately. After seven matches, at 4-3 now, I thought we’d be better than this at this point, but I know the types of players that I have. I know this team will bounce back. They will work as hard as they need to work. Our schedule affords us a lot of opportunities to play teams that we think will be in the NCAA tournament. Our schedule is a great schedule and we will have chances to redeem this start.”
The Cardinals opened the match by capturing the doubles point. George Hedley and Nicolas Rouanet gave Louisville the early lead with a dominant 6-1 victory over Chad Woodham and Evan Bottorff from the third court. The sixth-ranked duo of Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and Park Wynn notched a 6-3 win over Almantas Ozelis and Aleh Drobysh to clinch the point for the Cardinals. Moments later, Federico Gomez and Brandon Lancaster topped Timo Kiesslich and Christian Edison in a 6-2 decision.
In singles action, Clement Filho gave the Cardinals a two-point advantage over the Governors with a decisive 6-0, 6-0 victory over Chad Woodham from No. 6. Louisville then extended their lead to 3-0 as George Hedley topped Jacob Lorino 6-1, 6-0 from the No. 5. Gomez ultimately sealed the match for the Cardinals, defeating Kiesslich 6-0, 6-1.
At the first position, No. 75 Morin-Kougoucheff earned a 5-1, 6-3 victory over Ozelis, while Lancaster registered a 6-1, 6-4 win over Drobysh from No. 4 to put the Cardinals up 6-0. Rouanet wrapped up the match on court two where he fell a 6-4 to Edison in the first set, but rebounded for a 6-2 win in the second to force a tiebreaker 10-8 third set victory to bring the final score to 7-0.
The Cardinals return to action at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center on Friday, February 9 for a doubleheader against Wright State at 12 p.m. and Charlotte at 6 p.m.
Louisville Men’s Tennis 7, Austin Peay 0
Feb 4, 2018 at Louisville, KY
(Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
Singles
1. #75 C. Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU) def. Almantas Ozelis (APSU) 5-1, 6-3
2. Nicolas Rouanet (LOU) def. Christian Edison (APSU) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)
3. Federico Gomez (LOU) def. Timo Kiesslich (APSU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Brandon Lancaster (LOU) def. Aleh Drobysh (APSU) 6-1, 6-4
5. George Hedley (LOU) def. Jacob Lorino (APSU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Clement Filho (LOU) def. Chad Woodham (APSU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. #6 C. Morin-Kougoucheff/Parker Wynn (LOU) def. Almantas Ozelis/Aleh Drobysh (APSU) 6-3
2. Federico Gomez/Brandon Lancaster (LOU) def. Timo Kiesslich/Christian Edison (APSU) 6-2
3. George Hedley/Nicolas Rouanet (LOU) def. Chad Woodham/Evan Bottorff (APSU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Austin Peay 0-4
Louisville Men’s Tennis 4-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,5,3,1,4,2)
T-2:09 A-87
Lori Korte
Assistant Sports Information Director
University of Louisville Athletics
