Men's Tennis Beats Vanderbilt

Sunday, February 22

Nashville, Tenn.

1:00 PM

University of Louisville

Vanderbilt

February 22, 2009 | Men's Tennis

Feb. 22, 2009

The No. 38-ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team upended host No. 28 Vanderbilt 4-3 Sunday to improve to 10-1 on the season. The Commodores fall to 4-3.

"Vanderbilt is a historically great tennis program," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "They are well-coached and there is a lot of talent on that team. To win against them speaks volumes for the guys on our team. They played with so much heart and passion today. The players who weren't playing really supported their teammates. When a team has great chemistry, things like this can happen."

The Cards fell behind early after losing the doubles point to start the match. Vanderbilt's Nick Cromydas and Bryant Salcedo took down No. 33 Robert Rotaru and Alejandro Calligari 8-5 at the No. 2 spot and Charlie Jones teamed with Alex DiValerio to beat Viktor Maksimcuk and Sumit-Prakash Gupta 8-1 at No. 3. Louisville's Austen Childs and Simon Childs defended their No. 6 national ranking with an 8-7(10-8) win over No. 25 Adam Baker and Alex Zotov at the top seed.

Louisville picked up wins at Nos. 1, 4, and 5, but Maksimcuk's three-set victory over No. 103 Bryant Salcedo at the No. 2 spot clinched the match and gave the Cards their sixth consecutive win and 10th on the season.

Austen Childs, No. 46 in the ITA singles rankings, defeated Cromydas 6-3, 6-2 at the top seed. Maksimcuk beat No. 103 Salcedo 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 at the two-spot. Calligari topped Baker 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4 and Rotaru picked up a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Jones at No. 5.

"A win on the road in the SEC is as precious as diamonds and it really builds your resume for NCAA tournament selection," said Ecarma. "It seems like every time we play a really good program, another hero comes about at NC State it was Robert Hall, against Wisconsin to clinch it, today it was Viktor Maksimcuk. A different person steps up when we need him the most and I think that's the makings of a very good team."

Vanderbilt's singles points came at Nos. 2 and 6. Vijay Paul defeated Simon Childs 6-3, 6-1 at the two-slot and Zotov beat Hall 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6.

"This is definitely the best start of any U of L men's tennis team in the history of the program and we hope to continue to go forward. I believe Viktor Maksimcuk is the best player in the country that is not currently nationally ranked."

The Cardinals are back in action on Feb. 27 when No. 21 Wake Forest visits the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center for a 5 p.m. matchup.

#38 Louisville 4 - #28 Vanderbilt 3Feb. 22, 2009 - Nashville, Tenn.Singles Results1 - #46 Austen Childs (UL) d. Nick Cromydas (VU) 6-3, 6-22 - Viktor Maksimcuk (UL) #103 Bryant Salcedo (VU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-33 - Vijay Paul (VU) d. Simon Childs (UL) 6-3, 6-14 - Alejandro Calligari (UL) d. Adam Baker (VU) 6-3, 6-45- Robert Rotaru (UL) d. Charlie Jones (VU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-36 - Alex Zotov (VU) d. Robert Hall (UL)  6-3, 6-4
Doubles Results1 - #6 Childs/Childs (UL) d. #25 Baker/Zotov (VU) 8-7 (10-8)2 - Cromydas/Salcedo (VU) d. #33 Rotaru/Calligari (UL) 8-53 - Jones/Alex DiValerio (VU) Maksimcuk/Sumit-Prakash Gupta (UL) 8-1