Men's Tennis Tops Wisconsin 6-1

Wednesday, March 31

Madison, Wis.

2:00 PM

University of Louisville

Wisconsin

March 31, 2004 | Men's Tennis

March 31, 2004

MADISON, Wis. - - The University of Louisville men's tennis team defeated Wisconsin 6-1 Wednesday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

The Badgers took an early 1-0 lead by winning two of the three doubles matches to capture the doubles point. Wisconsin's Scott Green and Alex Conti defeated Octavian Nicodim and Mark Kennedy 8-6 at No. 2. Clinching the doubles point for the Badgers was Wisconsin's 32nd-ranked Alex Kasarov and David Hippee who upset the No. 26 duo Matt Mayer and Jeremy Clark, 8-5. Louisville's only doubles win came at No. 3 where Damar Johnson and Jakob Gustafsson topped Ward Bortz and Mark Weinig 8-5.

Unshaken by the fact that Badgers won the first set in three of the six matches, the Cardinal fought back to sweep Wisconsin in the singles competition.

At the No. 1 spot U of L's Mayer defeated Kasarov in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, while Nicodim took down Hippee, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), at No. 2. Johnson, defeated Green 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the third slot. Jhonny Berrido pushed past Alex Conti, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4 and Jakob Gustafsson took down Ward Bortz, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 at the No. 5 seed. Louisville's Clark came back to defeat Weinig, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 at the six spot.

The 44th-ranked U of L squad improved to 15-7 overall. The Badgers dropped to 5-8 on the season.

"This match was won with mental toughness," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "Our team was down, but did not give in and fought back. It is always difficult to play Big Ten teams on the road, but we met the challenge. We've now won seven straight matches and are building momentum as we head into the Conference USA Tournament."

U of L (15-7) will play host to IUPUI and Eastern Kentucky in a doubleheader Tuesday, April 6 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Matches are scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. respectively.

No. 44 Louisville 6, Wisconsin 1
Singles:1. Matt Mayer (L) def. Alex Kasarov (W) 6-4, 6-42. Octavian Nicodim (L) def. David Hippee (W) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2)3. Damar Johnson (L) def. Scott Green (W) 4-6, 6-4, 6-44. Jhonny Berrido (L) def. Alex Conti (W) 6-3, 6-15. Jakob Gustafsson (L) def. Ward Bortz (W) 4-6, 6-2, 7-56. Jeremy Clark (L) def. Mark Weinig (W) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles:1. No. 32 Alex Kasarov - David Hippee (W) def. No. 26 Matt Mayer -Jeremy Clark (L), 8-52. Scott Green- Alex Conti (W) def. Octavian Nicodim- Mark Kennedy (L), 8-63. Damar Johnson- Jakob Gustafsson (L) def. Bortz-Wienig (W), 8-5