Men's Tennis Releases 2005-06 Schedule
August 30, 2005 | Men's Tennis
Aug. 30, 2005
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- - University of Louisville men's tennis coach Rex Ecarma has announced the 2005-06 schedule. The Cards' spring schedule features three teams which finished the 2005 season in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 20 rankings, including No. 3 Mississippi, No. 7 Georgia and No. 19 Wake Forest. The 2006 spring slate also includes six additional teams in the ITA top 50, and all but one opponent is ranked in the top 75.
"This is definitely a blockbuster schedule," said Ecarma. "Last year, we defeated five teams in the top 25 and five programs that have appeared in to the semifinals of the NCAA championship. To improve upon that, you have to take scheduling risks. The schedule is extremely risky. In my opinion, 90 percent of our opponents will be high NCAA tournament seeds or receive at-large bids. I believe to achieve anything great, you have to take great risks."
The Cards will open the fall season Sept. 16-17 at the Middle Tennessee Invitational. The next weekend, select members of the team will participate in the Southern Intercollegiates and the Cincinnati Collegiate Invitational. The All-American Championships take place Oct. 3-10, with the Louisville Fall Invitational following Oct. 14-16 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. U of L will close out the fall season at the Omni Regional Championships Oct. 20-25.
Louisville will open the spring season on Jan. 13 against Northwestern at 5:00 p.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Cards travel to Oxford, Miss., to face 2005 NCAA semifinalist Ole Miss on Jan. 27 and then to Athens, Ga., to play sweet sixteen participant Georgia on Jan. 29. U of L will go on a five-match home stand in February, playing host to Vanderbilt, Indiana, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and Wake Forest, before closing out the month at Murfreesboro, Tenn., where they will face Minnesota. Louisville will once again participate in the HEB National Invitational March 2-4 in Corpus Christi, Texas March 2-4 and will travel to Montgomery, Ala., for the Blue-Gray National Invitational March 16-19.
The Cardinals' first BIG EAST opponent will be former C-USA foe South Florida on April 8 in Tampa. They will wrap up the season in South Bend, Ind., with a rematch against Notre Dame, whom the Cards' defeated 4-1 in the first round of the 2005 NCAA tournament. Louisville will return to Tampa April 20-22 for the BIG EAST Championship.
The 2005 Louisville men's tennis team (22-10) finished runner-up in the 2005 C-USA Championship. The Cards received their second consecutive at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and achieved the highest team ranking in program history at No. 24.
