University of Louisville
Notre Dame
Notre Dame Edges Louisville 4-3
April 13, 2008 | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2008
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- - The University of Louisville men's tennis team fell to host Notre Dame 4-3 in the final match of the regular season Sunday afternoon.
The Irish swept all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. The 54th ranked duo of Brett Helgeson and Sheeva Parbhu defeated Louisville's David Simon and Viktor Maksimcuk 8-2 at the top seed. Andrew Roth and Santiago Montoya edged Austen Childs and James McArthur 9-7 at No. 2, while Stephen Havens and Tyler Davis teamed to beat Simon Childs and Kenneth Nordheim 8-6 at the three-spot.
In singles action, #42 Helgeson put the Irish up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over #39 Austen Childs at the top seed. Parbu, #93 in the ITA singles rankings beat David Simon 7-5, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot to make the score 3-0. Viktor Maksimcuk put the Cards on the board with his 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 decision over Havens at the three-seed. Daniel Stahl clinched the match by beating Robert Rotaru 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6. Simon Childs outlasted Roth 6-1, 6-7(6-8), 7-6 (7-5) at No. 4 and Alejandro Calligari closed out the match with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over David Anderson at No. 5.
"Anytime you play on the road against a very good team you want one opportunity to win," said Louisville head coach Rex Ecarma. "I felt like we had chances at No. 2 and 3 doubles, but didn't capitalize on them and started the match down a point. Another opportunity I thought we had was when Robert Rotaru won his first set easily, I thought we might have that position, but Notre Dame's player regrouped. Notre Dame did a lot of good things to get the win. I think Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari have won 23 of their last 24 singles points combined - those spots are extremely strong for us. We need to find two more wins in the lineup to get us over the top. "
U of L (16-6) will prepare for the BIG EAST tournament April 17-20 in Tampa, Fla.
"At this point, the BIG EAST tournament will have three frontrunners, us, Notre Dame and host South Florida - but any team could get in there and make some noise," said Ecarma. "I think we are very close to being a very good team, we just need to find the extra 10 percent in practice to get us where we need to be."
#33 Notre Dame 4, #37 Louisville 3
Apr 13, 2008 at Notre Dame, Ind.
Singles
1. #42 Brett Helgeson (ND) def. #39 Austen Childs (UL) 6-2, 6-2
2. #93 Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. David Simon (UL) 7-5, 6-1
3. Viktor Maksimcuk (UL) def. Stephen Havens (ND) 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
4. Simon Childs (UL) def. Andrew Roth (ND) 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5)
5. Alejandro Calligari (UL) def. David Anderson (ND) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
6. Daniel Stahl (ND) def. Robert Rotaru (UL) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. #54 Brett Helgeson/Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. David Simon/Viktor Maksimcuk (UL) 8-2
2. Andrew Roth/Santiago Montoya (ND) def. Austen Childs/James McArthur (UL) 9-7
3. Stephen Havens/Tyler Davis (ND) def. Simon Childs/Kenneth Nordheim (UL) 8-6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,2,3,6,5,4)
Players Mentioned
