Men's Tennis Tops Middle Tennessee 5-2

Friday, January 24

Louisville, Ky.

5:00 PM

University of Louisville

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE

Sophomore Octavian Nicodim's win at No. 3 singles clinched the Cards win over Middle Tennessee

January 24, 2003 | Men's Tennis

Jan. 24, 2003

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - The University of Louisville men's tennis team defeated No. 37 Middle Tennessee 5-2 Friday at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

"It is very gratifying to beat a solid program like Middle Tennessee so early in the season," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "The last time we beat Middle Tennessee, we made it to the NCAA tournament. Hopefully history will repeat itself. We didn't play great, but played with so much heart and guts, it made me proud."

The Cardinals took the doubles point to begin the match as Cody Conley and Octavian Nicodim, No. 22 in the ITA rankings, defeated Michael Staniak and Rishan Kuruppu 8-2 at the top seed. Louisville's Paulo Carvalho and Jake Kirts teamed to beat Trevor Short and Brandon Allan 8-5 at No. 3. Middle Tennessee's Kirk Jackson and Greg Pollack defeated U of L's Matt Mayer and Jakub Gustafsson 8-3 at the two-spot.

In singles, Conley defeated Short 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 to give Louisville a 2-0 lead in the match. Jackson, No. 92 in the ITA singles rankings, edged Carvalho 7-5, 6-4 at the top seed to pull the Blue Raiders within one. Mayer defeated Anant Sitaram 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 to give the Cards a 3-1 lead. Middle Tennessee's Allan outlasted Jhonny Berrido 6-4, 7-5 at the six-seed to make the match score 3-2. Nicodim clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Pollack at No. 3. Harry Walsh added Louisville's final singles point by defeating Kuruppu 7-5, 6-3 at the five-spot.

"This win was very exciting for us," said Louisville assistant coach Mark Beckham. "This team has been beating us around for some time now. It feels good to beat a team that is ranked ahead of us; and one that has shown us no mercy in the recent past. This is a good start for our season and hopefully a sign of good things to come."

Louisville (3-0) will close out the month of January with a doubleheader on January 31. The Cards will play Murray State at noon and Southern Illinois at 7:30 p.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

NOTE: Louisville's win broke a four-match losing streak to Middle Tennessee and marks U of L's second win in 16 meetings. Middle Tennessee holds a 14-2 lead in the series.


 46 Louisville men's tennis vs. 37 Middle Tennessee (1/24/03)
LouisvilleSingles1. #92 Kirk Jackson (MT) d. Paulo Carvalho (UL) 7-5, 6-42. Cody Conley (UL) d. Trevor Short (MT) 6-1, 6-23. Octavian Nicodim (UL) d. Greg Pollack (MT) 7-5, 6-34. Matt Mayer  (UL) d. Anant Sitaram (MT) 6-2, 6-25. Harry Walsh (UL) d. Rishan Kuruppu (MT) 7-5, 6-36. Brandon Allan (MT) d. Jhonny Berrido (UL) 6-4, 7-5Doubles1. #22 Conley/Nicodim (UL) d. Michael Staniak/Kuruppu (MT) 8-22. Jackson/Pollack (MT) d. Mayer/Jakob Gustafsson (UL) 8-33. Carvalho/Jake Kirts (UL) d. Short/Allan (MT) 8-5