No. 15-ranked Men's Tennis Tips Hoosiers

Wednesday, April 14

Bloomington, IN

2:00 PM

University of Louisville

Indiana

Simon Childs clinched the match for the Cardinals.

April 14, 2010 | Men's Tennis

April 14, 2010

The No. 15-ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team rallied in singles after dropping the doubles point to beat regional rival Indiana 4-3 Wednesday evening in Bloomington.

"We were in a tough situation, losing the doubles point on the road against a team that knows us better than anyone," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "There was a lot of pressure in the match because they are trying to secure an NCAA bid and we are trying to position ourselves to host."

U of L (18-5) dropped the doubles point although the Cardinals started out on a good note as No. 3 pair Robert Hall and Sumit-Prakash Gupta rolled over Alexander van Gils and Isade Juneau 8-2. But Austen Childs and Victor Maksimcuk were edged 8-5 by Santiago Gruber and Jeremy Langer at No. 2. The #24 ranked pair of Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari were upset by #48 Lachlan Ferguson and Josh MacTaggart 8-4 at No. 1.

In singles, #20 ranked Austin Childs handled Jeremy Langer easily, finishing first with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 1 to even the score at 1-1. Robert Hall's win at No. 5 over Stephen Vogl (6-2, 6-0) took the Cardinals into a 2-1 score before the Hoosiers evened the tally with a win at No. 5 where Andrew Carter fell 7-6, 6-2 to Maxime Armengaud. Alejandro Calligari outlasted Josh McTaggart to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 at No. 4. #78 Simon Childs clinched the match with a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 win at No. 3 over Santiago Gruter. In the final flight to finish, Victor Maksimcuk was unable to capitalize on his 6-4 comeback in the second set after falling 7-6 in the first when he fell 10-5 in the tiebreaker to Lachlan Ferguson at No. 2.

"Austen and Robert got us going dramatically and Alejandro and Simon showed a lot of guts to seal our match. Our mental toughness got us over the hump against one of the most improved teams in the country. Robert Hall was today's MVP," declared Ecarma.

The Cardinals will have their final home match against Middle Tennessee April 17 at 1 p.m. at the Bass Rudd Tennis Center. The Hoosiers drop to 12-7 on the season.

Doubles1.) Ferguson/MacTaggart def. S. Childs/Calligari (UL) 8-42.) Gruter/Langer def. A. Childs/Maksimcuk (UL) 8-53.) Hall/Sumit Gupta def. Alexander van Gils/Isade Juneau 8-2Singles1.) #20 Austen Childs (UL) def. Jeremy Langer 6-1, 6-22.) Lachlan Ferguson def. Victor Maksimcuk (UL) 6-7, 6-4, 10-53.) #78 Simon Childs (UL) def. Santiago Gruber 7-5, 7-64.) Alejandro Calligari (UL) def. Josh MacTaggart  6-4, 1-6, 6-35.) Maxime Armengaud (IU) def. Andrew Carter 7-6, 6-26.) Robert Hall (UL) def. Stephen Vogl 6-2, 6-0