University of Louisville
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WESTERN MICHIGAN
Men's Tennis Tops Western Michigan 5-2
January 20, 2007 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 20, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 29th-ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team defeated visiting No. 55 Western Michigan 5-2 in the second match of a doubleheader Saturday at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Cards improve to 3-0 on the season.
The Cards won a hotly-contested doubles point to start the match with a 1-0 lead. U of L sophomores Robert Rotaru and Pablo Camacho defeated Alejandro Staub and John Pelton 8-5 at No. 3 to get the first doubles win on the board. Western Michigan's Alex Birchmeier and Bryan Norville responded with an 8-5 win over freshmen David Simon and Chris Herrlinger at the two-spot. The No. 1 seed pitted WMU's 21st ranked doubles team of Brady Crosby and Tim Bradshaw against Louisville's 24th ranked seniors Damar Johnson and Slavko Radman. Johnson and Radman edged Crosby and Bradshaw 9-8 (7-4) to clinch the point.
In singles action, freshman Horatiu Oltean gave the Cards a 2-0 lead with his 6-1, 6-1 win over Pelton at No. 6. Freshman David Simon made it 3-0 by beating Milan Petercak 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3. Rotaru clinched the match with his 6-1, 6-4 decision over Birchmeier. At the top seed, Radman, No. 71 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings, upset No. 52 Crosby 6-3, 6-1 to give the Cards a 5-0 lead.
Western Michigan's Tim Bradshaw picked up the Broncos' first point of the match by beating Johnson 6-3, 7-6 (5) at No. 2. Kevin Hayward and Louisville freshman Kenneth Nordheim split sets each winning 6-4. Hayward won 10-6 in the tiebreaker for the final 5-2 match score.
"I felt like we just clicked into second gear," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "I believe we have more gears in us - we have a lot of potential with this team. Sometimes I'm not even sure if the players believe that, but I know the potential is there. I'm really happy with No. 3 doubles and No. 1 doubles. Slavko and Damar were two match points down and really helped us get momentum for singles. This Western Michigan team came here to win. They are the powerhouse of the Mid-American Conference - we have a lot of respect for that conference and Western Michigan. I was please with our team going for the jugular and shutting their team down early."
U of L (3-0) will play host to No. 46 South Alabama on Saturday, Jan. 27 5 p.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.
Men's Tennis Results - Jan. 20, 2007
No. 29 Louisville - No. 55 Western Michigan
Singles
1 - #71 Slavko Radman (UL) d. #52 Brady Crosby (WM) 6-3, 6-1
2 - Tim Bradshaw (WM) d. Damar Johnson (UL) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
3 - David Simon (UL) d. Milan Petercak (WM) 6-2, 6-0
4 - Robert Rotaru (UL) d. Alex Birchmeier (WM) 6-1, 6-4
5 -Kevin Hayward (WM) d. Kenneth Nordheim (UL) 6-4, 4-6 (10-6)
6 -Horatiu Oltean (UL) d. John Pelton (WM) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
1 - #24 Radman/Johnson (UL) d. #21 Crosby/Bradshaw (WM) 9-8 (7-4)
2 - Bryan Norville/Birchmeier (WM) d. Simon/ Chris Herrlinger (UL) 8-5
3 - Pablo Camacho / Rotaru(UL) d. Alejandro Staub/Pelton (WM) 8-5
Players Mentioned
