No. 11 Kentucky Edges Men's Tennis 4-3

Saturday, February 15

Louisville Tennis Club

1:00 PM

University of Louisville

KENTUCKY

February 15, 2003 | Men's Tennis

Feb. 15, 2003

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's tennis team battled for four hours, but fell to eleventh-ranked Kentucky 4-3 Saturday at the Louisville Tennis Club.

The Cardinals took the doubles point as the No. 22 team of Cody Conley and Octavian Nicodim defeated Karim Benmansour and Matt Emery 8-6 at the top seed; and Sebastian Aspillaga and Jakob Gustafsson edged Evan Austin and Alex Hume 9-8 at No. 3. Kentucky's No. 41 ranked team of Jesse Witten and Rahim Esmail picked up an 8-5 win over Harry Walsh and Matt Mayer at No. 2.

In singles action, Kentucky's Benmansour tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Nicodim at No. 2. Louisville's Jhonny Berrido gave the Cards a 2-1 advantage with a 7-6, 6-3 decision over Emery at No. 5. Paulo Carvahlo topped Austin 7-6 (8), 6-3 at the two-spot to give Louisville a 3-1 lead. Louisville's Conley took fourth-ranked Jesse Witten to three sets before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the top seed. Kentucky's Hume topped Walsh 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 6 to tie the score at 3-3. Rahim Esmail clinched the match for the Wildcats with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 win over Mayer at No. 4. Kentucky improves to 6-1 on the season.

"We got up 3-1 and had three players in position to get the fourth and winning point, we were so close, but somehow found a way to lose," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "As much as I wanted to win, I drew the conclusion that we can compete with the nation's best day in and day out. For us to be in position to beat an elite program is definitely a positive."

No. 31 Louisville (6-2) will play host to Wisconsin on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center at 1 p.m.

 11 Kentucky 4 - 31 Louisville 3 (2/15/03)
Singles1. #4 Jesse Witten (UK) d. Cody Conley (UL) 4-6, 6-4, 6-32. #111 Paulo Carvalho (UL) d. #100 Evan Austin (UK) 7-6(8), 6-33. #73 Karim Benmansour (UK) d. Octavian Nicodim (UL) 6-3, 6-34. #91 Rahim Esmail (UK) d. Matt Mayer (UL) 6-7, 6-3, 6-25. Jhonny Berrido (UL) d. Matt Emery (UK) 7-6, 6-36. Alex Hume (UK) d. Harry Walsh (UL) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Doubles1. #22 Conley/Nicodim (UL) d. Benmansour/Emery (UK) 8-62. #41 Witten/Esmail (UK) d. Walsh/Mayer (UL) 8-53. Sebastian Aspillaga/Jakob Gustafsson (UL) d. Austin/Hume (UK) 9-8