Men's Tennis Opens Season with Doubleheader Sweep

Friday, January 17

Louisville, Ky.

6:00 PM

University of Louisville

CHATTANOOGA

Senior Cody Conley won at doubles and singles to help men's tennis to a 2-0 start

January 17, 2003 | Men's Tennis

Jan. 17, 2003

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - The University of Louisville men's tennis team opened up the spring season with a doubleheader sweep, shutting out Wright State and UT-Chattanooga 7-0 Friday at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

In the match against Wright State, the Cardinals claimed the doubles point as the No. 22 ranked team of Cody Conley and Octavian Nicodim defeated Quincy Jones and Brian Butt 8-4 at the top seed. Matt Mayer and Jakob Gustafsson teamed to beat Brian Savino and Mike Forcher 8-1 at the No. 2 seed and Harry Walsh and Jake Kirts defeated Scott Hayden and Frederico Mas 8-5 at No.3.

The Cards also swept the singles in straight sets as Conley beat Jones 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 1 spot and Nicodim defeated Butt 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2. Mayer topped Teufel 7-6, 6-0 at the three-spot and Walsh defeated Forcher 6-0, 6-2 at No. 4. Freshman Jhonny Berrido, playing in his first dual match, posted a 6-1, 6-1 win over Hayen at No. 5; while Kirts completed the sweep with a 6-2, 6-0 decision over Mas at the six seed.

Against UT-Chattanooga, the Cardinals again swept the doubles as Conley and Nicodim defeated Jason Ontog and Tim Kutschera 8-6 at No. 1; Mayer and Gustafsson topped Thomas Knizat and Derek Haybittel 8-4 at the two-spot and Paulo Carvalho and Sebastian Aspillaga teamed to defeat Kyle True and John Hangstefer 8-3 at No. 3.

In singles action, Carvalho took a turn at the top seed and defeated Ontog, No. 112 in the ITA singles rankings, 7-5, 6-3. Conley edged Hangstefer 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 at the two-seed. Nicodim beat Knizat 6-2, 7-5 at No. 3 and Mayer notched a 6-3, 6-1 win over Haybittel at the four-spot. Harry Walsh topped Kutschera 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 and Jhonny Berrido closed out the singles sweep with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Alex Mabred at the six-spot.

"This was a fantastic way to start the season," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "We played nine different players against two solid teams and won every match. We didn't show any sign of first match jitters and did a good job of executing our game plan. It's extremely tough on the body to play two doubles and singles matches with little rest in between, but it's important to do this to toughen ourselves mentally. Cody did a good job winning all four of his matches and Paulo notched his fourth win against a nationally ranked player."

The Cardinals (2-0), No. 46 in the ITA rankings, will play host to No. 37 Middle Tennessee State Friday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m.


U of L Men's tennis vs. Wright State (1/17/03)
Louisville 7- Wright State 0
Singles1. Cody Conley (UL) d. Quincy Jones (WS) 6-4, 6-32. Octavian Nicodim (UL) d. Brian Butt (WS) 6-1, 6-23. Matt Mayer (UL) d. Kevin Teufel (WS) 7-6, 6-04. Harry Walsh (UL) d. Mike Forcher (WS) 6-0, 6-25. Jhonny Berrido (UL) d. Scott Hayden (WS) 6-1, 6-16. Jake Kirts (UL) d. Frederico Mas (WS) 6-2, 6-0Doubles1. #22 Conley/Nicodim (UL) d. Jones/Butt (WS) 8-42. Mayer/Jakob Gustafsson (UL) d. Brian Savino/Forcher (WS) 8-13. Walsh/Jake Kirts (UL) d. Hayden/Mas (WS) 8-5
Louisville 7 - UT-Chattanooga 0 (1/17/03)
Singles1. Paulo Carvalho (UL) d. #112 Jason Ontog (UTC) 7-5, 6-32. Cody Conley (UL) d. John Hangstefer (UTC) 5-7, 6-4, 7-63. Octavian Nicodim (UL) d. Thomas Knizat (UTC) 6-2, 7-54. Matt Mayer (UL) d. Derek Haybittel (UTC) 6-3, 6-15. Harry Walsh (UL) d. Tim Kutschera (UTC) 6-2, 6-46. Jhonny Berrido (UL) d. Alex Mabred (UTC) 6-0, 6-1Doubles1. #22 Conley/Nicodim (UL) d. Ontog Kutschera (UTC) 8-62. Mayer/Jakob Gustafsson (UL) d. Knizat/Haybittel (UTC) 8-43. Carvalho/Sebastian Aspillaga (UL) d. Kyle True/Hanstefer (UTC) 8-3