University of Louisville
OKLAHOMA STATE
Tenth-Ranked Men's Tennis Defeats Oklahoma State 6-1
February 27, 2010 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 27, 2010
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The tenth-ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team beat No. 38 Oklahoma State 6-1 Saturday evening at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The win improved the Cardinals to 11-2 on the season and gave Rex Ecarma his 300th career win as head coach at UofL.
"I'm really proud of this team" said Ecarma. "Coach da Silva and I have been challenging the players to put a full match together, singles and doubles, where everyone plays well together. Tonight was the night."
The Cards began the day by taking all three doubles matches. Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari got for things rolling with an 8-3 victory over Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Aleskey Bessanov at the No. one seed. Austen Childs and Chidi Gabriel clinched the doubles point by beating Eric West and Anton Bobytskyi 8-6 at the No. two seed and Viktor Maksimcuk and Sumit Gupta finished the round by winning 8-6 over Maxi Kuhn and Trevor Horstmann at the No. three spot.
In singles action, Calligari started the Cards off by beating his opponent Eric West 6-2, 6-3 at the No. four spot, closely followed by Maksimcuk who won 6-3, 6-0 over Aleksey Bessonov in the No. three seed. Austen Childs clinched the match for Louisville by winning at the top seed 7-6, 6-0 over Oleksandr Nedovyesov who is 10th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings. Gabriel defeated Trevor Horstmann 6-1, 6-3 at No. six and Andrew Carter topped Maxi Kuhn 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 5.
The Cards played today in front of a capacity crowd at Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. "Many students and athletes were here and really brought the house down with their cheering" said Ecarma. "I know the guys really liked that."
While the victory is big for the team, who have earned their highest ever ITA ranking at No. 10, it is a career milestone for Rex Ecarma who is in his 20th season at U of L.
"Number 300 represents a lot of people partnering with me to transform a collegiate program" said Ecarma. "It also reminds me of all the people who helped make this possible. The players who were willing to sign on with me; who were willing to be coached and pushed to their potential. I will always be there for any of them. My past and current assistants Brendan Burke, Mark Beckham, John Boetsch and Rodrigo DaSilva. I coached Mark for 2 years and he was my assistant for 15. He saw and participated in the blood, sweat and tears it took to build a nationally respected program and Rodrigo is doing a great job in helping me use that foundation to reach us to new heights. I also want to thank a great senior administration Tom Jurich, Julie Hermann, and Kevin Miller who are great supporters of the program and have been such great mentors to me along the way. I would like to thank my wife, Melissa and my children who have blended their life around my consuming career, long hours, and many weeks on the road with grace and a positive attitude. Also, a thank you to my parents and brothers and sister who have been in my corner since my student-athlete days at U of L. Lastly, I would like to think back at my first 4 years when the Head Coach position was just a part-time position and we played our home outdoor matches at a public park like high schools do. I did not get a full-time assistant until my 15th season and for quite a few years where we had to fund-raise for so many things. I want to thank the alumni and boosters who built a tennis center and financially supported us faithfully every season. Not I but WE have all come a long way."
The Cards take to the road for their next match against No. 3 Ohio State at 5 p.m. on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. Louisville is looking to avenge a 4-2 loss to the Buckeyes at the National Indoor Championships on Feb. 12.
Feb. 27, 2010- Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
#10 Louisville 6- #38 Oklahoma State 1
Singles
1- #60 Austen Childs (UL) d. #10 Oleksandr Nedovyesov (OSU) 7-6, 6-0
2- #65 Anton Bobytskyi (OSU) d. #49 Simon Childs (UL) 6-7, 7-6, 11-9
3- Viktor Maksimcuk (UL) d. Aleksey Bessonov (OSU) 6-3, 6-0
4- Alejandro Calligari (UL) d. Eric West (OSU) 6-2, 6-3
5- Andrew Carter (UL) d. Maxi Kuhn (OSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
6- Chidi Gabriel (UL) Trevor Horstmann (OSU) 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 3, 1, 6, 5, 2
Doubles
1- S. Childs/Calligari (UL) d. Nedovyesov/Bessanov (OSU) 8-3
2- A. Childs/Gabriel (UL) d. West/Bobytskyi (OSU) 8-6
3- Maksimcuk/Gupta (UL) d. Kuhn/Horstmann (OSU) 8-6
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Players Mentioned
