Men's Tennis Falls To No. 33 Minnesota
July 24, 2000 | Men's Tennis
January 29, 2000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's tennis team lost to No. 33 Minnesota 5-2 Saturday at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.
At the top seed, Minnesota's Harsh Mankad edged Louisville's Tvrtko Kujundzic in three sets 5-7, 7-5, 7-5. Jorge Duenas defeated Louisville's Alex Sivertsen 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 at the three seed. At the four spot, Minnesota's Martin Michalowski defeated Paulo Carvalho 6-4, 7-6, while Tyson Parry of Minnesota defeated Louisville's Cody Conley 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5. Minnesota's Karl Sloss defeated Hazuan Hizan 0-6, 7-5, 7-6 to close out the singles points. Louisville's singles point came from Joachim Lien as he defeated Thomas Haug 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 at the No. 2 seed.
Louisville took the doubles point as Kujundzic and Lien defeated Svensson and Sloss at No. 2 and Sivertsen and Hizan defeated Mankad and Eric Robertson at the three seed. Minnesota's team of Haug and MIchalowski, ranked 10th in the Midwest Region, defeated Carvalho and Conley 8-5 at the top seed.
"Minnesota has beaten three nationally ranked teams in a row and should be in the top 20 in the next ITA rankings," said Louisville coach Rex Ecarma. "Still, to be so close and only get two points is disappointing. We can use this experience to make my young players stronger the rest of the season."
Louisville also played Kansas in singles on Saturday and swept the Jayhawks. U of L's Lien, Sivertsen, Conley and Hizan all won their matches in straight sets at Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 respectively. At the top seed, Kansas' Rodrigo Echagaray played U of L's Kujundzic to three sets before falling 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Louisville's Carvalho also won over Alex Barragan in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the four seed. The doubles point will be played out Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
"After the heartbreaking loss to Minnesota, our players came back with such fire, energy and intensity, it made me proud as a coach" said Ecarma. "Tomorrow we have another big challenge against a tough Middle Tennessee team. If we beat them, we'll be one step closer to the NCAA tournament."
Play between Louisville, Kansas, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota will continue tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.
Minnesota 5, Louisville 2
SINGLES No. 1 - Harsh Mankad (UM) d. Tvrtko Kujundzic (UL) 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 No. 2 - Joachim Lien (UL) d. Thomas Haug (UM) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 No. 3 - Jorge Duenas (UM) d. Alex Sivertsen (UL) 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 No. 4 - Martin Michalowski (UM) d. Paulo Carvalho 6-4, 7-6 No. 5 - Tyson Parry (UM) d. Cody Conley (UL) 6-3, 6-4 No. 6 - Karl Sloss (UM) d. Hazuan Hizan (UL) 0-6, 7-5, 7-6
DOUBLES No. 1- Haug/Michalowski (UM) d. Carvalho/Cody Conley (UL) 8-5 No. 2- Kujundzic/Lien (UL) d. Svensson/Sloss (UM) 8-6 No. 3 - Sivertsen/Hizan (UL) d. Mankad/Eric Robertson (UM) 8-2
Louisville 6, Kansas 0 (singles only) - doubles will continue Sunday
SINGLES No. 1 - Tvrtko Kujundzic (UL) d. Rodrigo Echagaray (KAN) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 No. 2 - Joachim Lien (UL) d. Eleazar Magallan (KAN) 6-2, 6-2 No. 3 - Alex Sivertsen (UL) d. Quentin Blakeney (KAN) 6-3, 6-4 No. 4 - Paulo Carvalho (UL) d. Alex Barragan (KAN) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 No. 5 - Cody Conley (UL) d. Pete Stroer (KAN) 6-2, 6-2 No. 6 - Hazuan Hizan (UL) d. Sebastian Libertino (KAN) 6-2, 6-2
