Men's Tennis Upsets No. 27 Clemson

Saturday, February 12

Boston, Mass.

12:00 PM

University of Louisville

Clemson

February 13, 2005 | Men's Tennis

Feb. 13, 2005

BOSTON - - The University of Louisville men's tennis team defeated No. 27 Clemson 4-3 Saturday in Boston.

The Cards began the match by taking the double point as Jakob Gustafsson and Jeremy Clark defeated Nathan Thompson and Clement Reix 8-6 at the top seed and Jhonny Berrido and Mark Kennedy topped Brett Twente and Michael Gee 8-6 at No. 3. Clemson's Ryan Young and Sander Konig edged Damar Johnson and Tony Teufel 9-7 at the two seed.

In singles action, Louisville's Slavko Radman picked up a 6-4, 7-6 win over Konig at the two spot. Teufel defeated Gee 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6. Octavian Nicodim clinched the match for the Cardinals with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Twente at No. 5.

Louisville's Johnson defeated Thompson, ranked No. 30 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, 6-3 in the first set, but Thompson won the next to 6-2, 6-3 to claim the No. 1 seed. Clemson's Reix defeated Nicolas Houard 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 at No. 3. The Tigers' Young beat Gustafsson 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.

"I believe this may be our biggest victory of the year," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "This Clemson team not only plays in a great tennis conference, but they also made it to the NCAA elite eight last year. Their coach is a legend in college tennis and I have a world of respect for him. Our team was not intimidated and came fired up and ready to play. I told the team to savor the opportunity to play elite teams and they responded with great effort. Senior Octavian Nicodim played like the seasoned veteran he is and clinched the match for us. This upset of 27th ranked Clemson will be impressive at the end of the season when the NCAA tournament selections are being made."

The Cards, No. 40 in ITA team rankings will play host Harvard on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 2:00 p.m.

Louisville men's tennis resultsSinglesNo. 1 - #30 Nathan Thompson (CU) d. #124 Damar Johnson(UL) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3No. 2 - Slavko Radman (UL) d. Sander Konig (CU) 6-4, 7-6No. 3 - Clement Reix (CU) d. Nicolas Houard (UL) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1No. 4 - Ryan Young (CU) d. Jakob Gustafsson (UL) 7-6, 3-6, 6-4No. 5 - Octavian Nicodim (UL) Brett Twente (CU) 6-2, 7-6No. 6 - Tony Teufel (UL) d. Michael Gee (CU) 6-3, 6-4
DoublesNo. 1 - Gustafsson/Clark (UL) d. Thompson/Reix (CU) 8-6No. 2 - Young/Koning (CU) d. Damar Johnson/Tony Teufel (UL) 9-7No. 3 - Berrido/ Mark Kennedy (UL) d. Twente/Gee 6-3, 6-4