University of Louisville
Middle Tennessee State
No. 14 Men's Tennis Defeats Middle Tennessee 6-1
March 15, 2009 | Men's Tennis
March 14, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The 14th ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team defeated No. 58 Middle Tennessee 6-1 Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals grabbed the doubles point to start the match. Louisville's No. 15 duo of Austen Childs and Simon Childs outlasted No. 34 Robert McKenzie and John Peer 9-8(7-5) at the top seed. Viktor Maksimcuk and Tim Barnoud teamed to beat Morgan Richard and Victor Melo 8-6 at No. 2. Alejandro Calligari and Robert Rotaru topped Alex McCann and Kyle Wishing 8-1 at the three-spot.
"We've been really focusing this past week on doing better in our doubles points and it really paid off," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "Our guys swept a good team in doubles. Tim Barnoud was a real spark plug for us. He has been playing very well and aggressively for last week and a half. We tried him at the No. 2 position and he handled the pressure well and really was the MVP as far as doubles."
Louisville swept picked up straight set singles points at Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. No. 40 Austen Childs picked up a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 110 Robert McKenzie at the top seed. No. 74 Maksimcuk beat Melo 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 at the two spot. Calligari topped Richard 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4. Robert Hall registered a 6-0, 6-1 victory over McCann at the five seed. Andrew Carter beat Kyle Wishing 8-4 at No. 6.
Middle Tennessee's win came at the No. 3 spot, where no 85 John Peers defeated Simon Childs 7-5, 6-1.
"Calligari, Hall and Carter dominated their matches," said Ecarma. "It's not easy to dominate a good team on the road. Austen Childs used a variety of strategies to win against a nationally ranked player. Viktor played extremely talented player at No. 3 and was mentally tougher at the end of the sets and outfought him for the match. I was really pleased with Viktor."
The Cardinals (14-3) will play host to Old Dominion on March 21 at 2 p.m.
No. 14 Louisville d. No. 58 Middle Tennessee 6-1
Singles competition
1. #40 Austen Childs (UL) def. #110 Robert McKenzie (MT) 6-3, 6-4
2. #85 John Peers (MT) def. Simon Childs (UL) 7-5, 6-1
3. #74 Victor Maksimcuk (UL) def. Victor Melo (MT) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
4. Alejandro Calligari (UL) def. Morgan Richard (MT) 6-3, 6-1
5. Robert Hall (UL) def. Alex McCann (MT) 6-0, 6-1
6. Andrew Carter (UL) def. Kyle Wishing (MT) 8-4
Doubles competition
1. #15 Austen Childs/Simon Childs (UL) def. #34 Robert McKenzie/John Peers (MT) 9-8 (7-5)
2. Victor Maksimcuk/Tim Barnoud (UL) def. Morgan Richard/Victor Melo (MT) 8-6
3. Alejandro Calligari/Robert Rotaru (UL) def. Alex McCann/Kyle Wishing (MT) 8-1
Match Notes
Louisville 14-3; National ranking #14
Middle Tennessee 7-7; National ranking #58
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,3,2,1,5,6)
Players Mentioned
