Men's Tennis Nipped by Blue Raiders

Saturday, February 7

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

2:00 PM

University of Louisville

Middle Tennessee State

Matt Mayer kept Louisville alive with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3.

February 07, 2004 | Men's Tennis

Feb. 7, 2004

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The No. 52-ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team was edged 4-3 by No. 65 ranked Middle Tennessee in a hardfought loss that came down to two 3-set deciding matches Saturday at the Racquet Club.

Louisville's Jhonny Berrido had Middle Tennessee's Andreas Siljestrom at match point in a third-set tiebreaker before falling 7-6 (10-8). Meanwhile at No. 5 singles, Jeremy Clark was deadlocked with MTSU's Rishan Kuruppu who also won in the third set.

U of L faced a hot Blue Raider team for the doubles point. MTSU has won the doubles in the three matches. The Cardinals were forced to put the pressure on in singles and the Blue struggled, losing three of the first four completed matches to fall behind 3-2 in the match.

Octavian Nicodim handled Trevor Short for a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1. Louisville's Matt Mayer rolled 6-2, 6-2 over Kirk Jackson. U of L's other win was at No. 6 where Jakob Gustafsson defeated Brandon Allan 7-5, 6-2.

At No. 2 Siljestrom battled UL's Jhonny Berrido, with the two splitting sets before battling to a third-set tiebreaker. In the breaker, Berrido had a pair of match points but failed to convert, and Siljestrom eventually tied the match at three prevailing 10-8.

Kuruppu then provided the decisive point in the victory, defeating Jeremy Clark, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, at No. 5, giving Middle Tennessee its first win of the season.

#65 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 4, #52 LOUISVILLE 3SINGLES1. Octavian Nicodim (UL) def. Trevor Short (MT), 6-4, 6-42. Andreas Siljestrom (MT) def. Jhonny Berrido (UL) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8)3. Matt Mayer (UL) def. Kirk Jackson (MT), 6-2, 6-24. Kai Schledorn (MT) def. Damar Johnson (UL), 6-1, 6-45. Rishan Kuruppu (MT) def. Jeremy Clark (UL), 6-3, 3-6, 6-26. Jakob Gustafsson (UL) def. Brandon Allan (MT), 7-5, 6-2
DOUBLES1. (46) Allan-Schledorn (MT) def. Clark-Mayer (UL), 8-52. Gustafsson-Nicodim (UL) def. (30) Jackson-Short (MT), 8-63. Kuruppu-Siljestrom (MT) def. Johnson-Berrido (UL), 8-5