Men's Tennis Falls to Indiana 5-2

Friday, February 18

Bloomington, Ind.

4:00 PM

University of Louisville

Indiana

February 18, 2005 | Men's Tennis

Feb. 18, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - - The 26th ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team fell to host Indiana 5-2 Friday night at the IU Varsity Tennis Center.

Indiana began the match by taking the doubles point. Louisville freshman Tony Teufel and sophomore Damar Johnson defeated Michael McCarthy and Dara McLoughlin 8-5 at the No. 3 spot. IU's top tandem of senior Ryan Recht and John Stone posted an 8-6 win over juniors Jeremy Clark and Jakob Gustafsson, at No. 1.

The doubles point would come down to the No. 2 match between Indiana senior Jakub Praibis and junior Dmytro Ishtuganov against junior Jhonny Berrido and senior Mark Kennedy at the No. 2 spot. Both teams held serve and the match remained deadlocked until 8-8, but the IU duo took over in the tiebreaker, and won seven straight points to take the match by the score of 9-8.

In singles action, IU's Prabis defeated Louisville's No. 124 Damar Johnson, 6-3, 6-1, at the top spot. The Hoosiers took a a 3-0 lead as David Bubenicek beat Louisville's Teufel 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot.

Louisville trimmed the margin to 3-2 as Gustafsson bested junior Neil Kenner, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 3, and sophomore Slavko Radman upended Recht, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 2.

McCarthy clinched the match for the Hoosiers with a straight-set win over senior Octavian Nicodim, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 4 slot. Stone posted the fifth point for the Indiana with a win over Berrido at No. 6, 7-5, 6-4.

"The loss itself is extremely disappointing," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "It was a very rough atmosphere and my guys didn't handle it very well. Hopefully they will be able to learn from it and become tougher in the future. In my many years of coaching, I have never experienced a crowd so antagonistic at a tennis match."

The Cards (6-5) will play host to Bradley at 9:00 a.m. and Southern Illinois at 4:00 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 20 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

No. 70 Indiana 5, No. 26 Louisville 2IU Varsity Tennis CenterBloomington, Ind.
Doubles:1. Ryan Recht/John Stone (IU) def. Jeremy Clark/Jakob Gustafsson (UL), 8-62. Jakub Praibis/Dmytro Ishtuganov (IU) def. Mark Kennedy/Jhonny Berrido (UL), 9-8 (0)3. Tony Teufel/Damar Johnson (UL)def. Dara McLoughlin/Michael McCarthy (IU), 8-5Order of Finish: (3, 1, 2)Singles:1. Jabub Praibis (IU) def. Damar Johnson (UL), 6-3, 6-12. Slavko Radman (UL) def. Ryan Recht (IU), 6-3, 6-33. Jakob Gustafsson (UL) def. Neil Kenner (IU), 6-4, 6-44. Michael McCarthy (IU) def. Octavian Nicodim (UL), 6-4, 6-25. David Bubenicek (IU) def. Tony Teufel (UL), 6-2, 6-36. John Stone (IU) def. Jhonny Berrido (UL), 7-5, 6-4Order of Finish: (1, 6, 3, 2, 4, 6)
Match Notes:No. 70 Indiana is now 3-4No. 26 Louisville is now 6-5Time of Match: 3:15Attendance: 257
*Release courtesy of Indiana University Media Relations