No. 40 Men's Tennis Upsets No. 23 Harvard

Sunday, February 13

Boston, Mass.

10:00 AM

University of Louisville

Harvard

February 13, 2005 | Men's Tennis

Feb. 13, 2005

The No. 40-ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team pulled its second upset of the weekend with a 4-3 road win against No. 23 Harvard Sunday in Boston.

"This weekend was our program's defining moment," said Rex Ecarma, U of L head coach. "To beat Clemson, an Elite Eight finisher in last year's NCAA and Harvard, a Sweet Sixteen participant is a great accomplishment for this program. This really put us in there as a contender on the national level."

The Cardinals scratched out a win in doubles when Mark Kennedy and Jhonny Berrido upset the No. 5-ranked doubles pair of Jason Beren and Martin Wetzel 8-5.

"The No. 2 doubles team of beating the fifth ranked team in the country is awesome," said Ecarma.

The Cardinals clinched the doubles point when Damar Johnson and Tony Teufel rolled over Brandon Chiu and Dan Nguyen 8-3.

"Both these programs are yearly Top 25 type programs and to beat them on the road made that achievement all the more memorable," said Ecarma.

After dropping its top two singles matches to two Top 25 players, U of L had wins at No. 3-5 to gain the points for the win. Jakob Gustaffson def. Ashwin Kumar 7-6, 7-6 at No. 3. Octavian Nicodim beat Shantanu Bhaka 6-2,6-3. Freshman Tony Teufel clinched the match with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Jason Beren. U of L's Jeremy Clark fell in a hard-fought 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 loss.

"For our freshman, who has only been on campus since the beginning of this semester, to clinch bodes well for our future," said Ecarma. "Our goal is to be in the nation's elite and with two wins like this weekend and last weekend's win over Mississippi State should position us for a decent seeding in the NCAAs."

No. 40 Louisville def. No. 23 Harvard 4-3
SinglesNo. 1 Jonathan Chu #24 (H) def. Damar Johnson 6-4, 6-4No. 2 Martin Wetzel #20 (H) def. Slavko Rodman 5-7, 6-3, 4-2 inj.No. 3 Jakob Gustaffson (UL) def. Ashwin Kumar 7-6, 7-6No. 4 Octavian Nicodim (UL) def. Shantanu Bhaka 6-2, 6-3No. 5 Tony Teufel (UL) def. Beren 4-6, 7-5, 6-3No. 6 Scott Denenberger (H) def. Jeremy Clark 4-6, 7-6, 6-4
DoublesNo. 1 Chu/Kumar (H) def. Gustaffson/Clark 8-6No. 2 Mark Kennedy/Jhonny Berrido (UL) def. Beren/Wetzel 8-5No. 3 Johnson/Teufel (UL) def. Chiu/Nguyen 8-3