2008-09 Men's Tennis Schedule Released
September 24, 2008 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 24, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -
Complete Schedule in PDF Format 
University of Louisville men's tennis coach Rex Ecarma has announced the completion of the 2008-09 schedule which includes 11 teams ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association top 75.
"We enter this great schedule with a lot of ambition because it gives us so many opportunities to move up the national rankings," said Ecarma. "It's a risky schedule, but great accomplishments are achieved through great risk. We will be ready to meet it head on."
The Cardinals play a tough fall schedule with September's Hoosier Invitational, the United States Tennis Association College Invitational, and the Virginia Invitational. October features the South Carolina Invitational and the All-American Championships before hosting the Louisville Invitational Oct. 10-12 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Following their home tournament, the Cards will compete in the Omni Midwest Regional and the Alabama Invitational.
Louisville will begin November at the Florida State Invitational before closing the fall season with the Cardinal Open on November 15 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.
"This schedule is loaded with national-caliber events and dual matches," said Ecarma. "I specifically chose some of the best fall invitationals in the country to ready our young team to play the nation's best players. To be among the best players individually, you have to first travel to where the best are competing and throw yourself into that arena. When a player comes to Louisville he knows this is my philosophy. I believe we can have more players on in the national rankings in addition to Austen Childs and Simon Childs and this schedule can improve their national ranking as well."
U of L will open the spring season January 5-8 at the Florida Gulf Coast Shootout in Ft. Myers Florida before a home-opening doubleheader with Duquesne and Murray State on January 16 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Louisville will go back on the road to North Carolina State on January 23 and face Maryland at home two days later.
The Cardinals were one of 60 teams to qualify for the National Kick-Off Regional and will travel to ninth-ranked Tennessee where they will face Drake in the first round of the four team regional which also includes Harvard.
"We are excited to play on the road at the first-ever National Kick-off Regional which will qualify the regional winners to the National Indoor Team Championships," said Ecarma. "In many respects, this tournament has more top teams than the NCAA Tournament since this tournament has no conference automatic bids."
Upon returning from Knoxville, Tenn., the Cards will face two Big Ten opponents in early February when they host Minnesota and travel to Wisconsin. Eastern Kentucky and UT-Martin await the Cardinals for a twinbill on February 17 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Louisville will then face four teams ranked in the top 30 with home matches against No. 30 Wake Forest and No. 23 Texas A&M and road trips to No. 26 Vanderbilt and No. 28 Virginia Tech.
After squeezing in a doubleheader with Xavier and Southern Illinois on March 8, Louisville will take a 10 day break before making its third trip to the state of Tennessee, this time to Murfreesboro for a matchup with Middle Tennessee. Old Dominion and Indiana will visit the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center on March 25th and 27th respectively. The Cards will turn around and go back on the road to Tulsa, Okla., where they will face Oklahoma State and No. 11 Tulsa to close out the month of March.
U of L will travel to Richmond, Va., to play BIG EAST Conference foe South Florida in a neutral site match on April 3 and then will face host VCU on April 4. The Cards will return home for a matchup against another BIG EAST opponent when they finish the regular season by hosting No. 29 Notre Dame.
The BIG EAST Conference tournament will be held April 16-19 in Tampa, Fla., with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals which will be held May 8-10.
"We have some exciting home matches for our fans that include Maryland, Minnesota, Wake Forest, Texas A&M, Old Dominion, Indiana, and BIG EAST Conference opponent Notre Dame. This is one of the best home slates we have had in the history of our program," said Ecarma. "We will also have some very tough road matches at NC State, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, South Florida and VCU. We are building for a good performance at the Big East Championship. Last season, for the first time in many years, we did not peak at this tournament. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 we were in the finals, so anytime you are not in it is upsetting. Our players will perform better next time around."
The 2008 team posted 17-8 record, finished fourth in the conference and was No. 48 in the final ITA team rankings. The Cards return six players from last season, including sophomore Austen Childs who is No. 26 in the ITA preseason singles rankings and fellow sophomore Simon Childs who joins Austen Childs (no relation) to make up the 26th ranked doubles team. Also back for the Cardinals is senior Robert Rotaru, a 2007 All-BIG EAST doubles selection, sophomore Viktor Maksimcuk, a 2008 BIG EAST singles selection, sophomore Alejandro Calligari and senior Tim Barnoud.
Players Mentioned
