No. 15 Men's Tennis Departs for Georgia
May 18, 2010 | Men's Tennis
May 18, 2010
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -
Sophomore Robert Hall will be blogging as the University of Louisville men's tennis team embarks on its first trip to the NCAA Championship Round of 16 in Athens, Ga. The Cards departed Tuesday afternoon and Hall is ready with his first installment.
"Wow what a weekend! First off we want to thank everyone who came out and supported the team this weekend against Eastern Kentucky and Virginia Tech. It was a complete team effort and we could not have won with out the fans who cheered and encouraged us to keep going! The match against EKU was great the team really played well and was able to get the win! Then we played Virginia Tech who did not want to lose it was a little tricky because the match was moved indoors and we had played outdoors the day before. The atmosphere and the energy that was at the Bass Rudd Tennis Center was electric! Everyone we knew came out and was very loud! The team was fired up and really wanted to win it and make it down to Georgia! So as we have done all year we fought hard and came away with the win and the team celebrated by dumping the water jug all over coach! It was a very physical match, but we had a day off Monday and Steve our trainer did a great job of getting our bodys ready for this week of practice!"
"We left today for Georgia and did not know what to expect, but when we showed up to get ready to go when we saw about a hundred people including the band to see us off! Also all of the TV stations were there at the send-off to interview us right before we took off! That was awesome and the team really appreciates all of the support we have been getting and want to do the Athletic Department, the University and the city of Louisville proud in the Sweet 16! The team wants to give a special thanks to all of the administrators for setting us up with everything we possibly might need and on such a short notice! So until tomorrow this is Robert Hall signing off. Stay classy Cardinals!"
Louisville Makes First NCAA Championship Round of 16 Appearance
The 15th ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team beat No.23 Virginia Tech 4-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to its first appearance in the NCAA Championships Round of 16. Louisville (24-5) set a new school record for victories in a season.
Louisville started off in strong fashion against the Hokies by capturing the doubles point. The No. 26 ranked pair of juniors Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari beat Will Beck and Patrick Daciek 8-4 with fellow juniors Austen Childs and Viktor Maksimcuk defeating Sebastien Jacques and Yoann Re 8-6 to secure the first point for the Cardinals.
Singles play featured a hotly contested battle between two well-matched teams, with all but one match being decided in three sets. Andrew Carter notched the first singles point with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Will Beck. No. 19 Austen Childs played through several tie-breaks and match-point opportunities to beat No. 55 Yoann Re 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
With only one additional point needed to end the match, Simon Childs pulled off a come-from-behind victory to give the Cards the win. Down 4-1 in the second set, Childs pulled out all of the stops to down Luka Somen 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 to take the Cards to their first ever round of 16 appearance.
About The Cardinals
The 15th ranked Cardinals earned their seventh NCAA appearance by winning the 2010 BIG EAST championship with a decisive 4-0 win over Notre Dame on April 25. At 24-5, the Cardinals have tied a program high for wins and set a record for fewest losses. The Cards also enter the Round of 16 on a 10-match win streak.
Louisville is led by junior Austen Childs, the 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year. Childs, who also earned the honor in 2009, is currently No. 19 in the ITA Singles rankings and has posted a 28-10 overall record while going 22-4 as Louisville's No. 1 player. Fellow juniors Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari combine to lead U of L in doubles as the No. 26 ranked duo in the nation. Calligari and Simon Childs have tallied an 13-3 mark at No. 1 doubles.
The Matchup
Scouting Tennessee: Tennessee (27-1) is entering its third consecutive NCAA Championship round of 16. The Vols defeated East Tennessee State 4-1 in the regional finals and Winthrop 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA regionals in Knoxville. Prior to that UT cruised through the SEC tournament with 4-0 wins over LSU, Mississippi and Florida. The Vols are on an 18-match win streak with their last loss coming on Feb. 10 against (currently) top-ranked Virginia. in the finals of the ITA Team Indoor Championship.
UT features the top-ranked Will singles player in the nation in John-Patrick Smith. Four other players in the singles lineup appear in the top 125 rankings: Boris Conkic steps in a No. 36 while Rhyne Williams is No. 45. Tennys Sandgren is No. 111 and Matt Brewer is No. 116.
The duo of Davey Sandgren and Smith is the third ranked doubles team while Smith teams with Conkic to form the seventh-ranked team in the nation. Conkic and Williams stand in at No. 12 Series Record: UT owns a 5-1 lead in the series
Last Meeting: March 26, 2010 - #2 Tennessee won 7-0 in Knoxville
Quick Hits
• Louisville has set a school record with 24 wins, surpassing the previous mark of 22 set in 2000 and 2005. The five losses are also a school record for fewest losses.
• The Cardinals are on a 10 match win streak with their last loss, a 7-0 decision at the hands of No. 2 Tennessee on March 26
• All of Louisville's five losses this season have come against teams ranked in the top 20 including then-No. 2/3 Ohio State (twice), No. 11 Mississippi, No. 2 Tennessee and No. 18 Texas A&M.
• Louisville went undefeated with a 12-0 record at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center this year.
• Junior Austen Childs is currently on a nine-match win streak at No. 1 singles
• Louisville has a 2-4 record against teams in the NCAA Championship Round of 16 with wins over Baylor (4-2 on Feb. 13) and Wisconsin (4-0 on Jan. 30); and losses to Ohio State (2-4 on Feb. 12 and 2-5 on March 3 ), Texas A&M (0-7 on March 22) and Tennessee (0-7 on March 26).
Cards in the NCAA Tournament
Louisville is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA tournament and first trip to the NCAA Championship Round of 16 2010
May 15, #15 Louisville 4 - Eastern Kentucky 1 (at Louisville, Ky.) Second Round: May 16, #15 Louisville 4 - #23 Virginia Tech 4-1
2009
May 8, #21 Louisville 4 - #32 Wisconsin 3 (Champaign, Ill.)
Second Round: May 9, #13 Illinois 4 - #21 Louisville 1
2006
May 12, #27 Louisville 4, #37 SMU 0 (at Louisville, Ky.)
Second Round: - May 13, #8 Illinois 4 - #27 Louisville 0
2005
May 14, #33 Louisville 4 - #32 Notre Dame 1 (at Champaign, Ill.)
Second round: - May 15, #6 Illinois 4 - #33 Louisville 1
2004
May 15, #34 Arizona State 4 - #36 Louisville 3 (at Champaign, Ill.)
2000
May 13, #24 Mississippi State 4 - #39 Louisville 3 (at Waco, Texas)
1998 May 15, Northwestern 4 - Louisville 3 (at South Bend, Ind.)
Childs, Childs and Calligari Selected for NCAA Individual Championships
Austen Childs has been selected to compete in the NCAA singles championship while Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari will team to represent the Cardinals in doubles. All three players received the BIG EAST Conference's automatic bid as the highest ranked individuals in the league.
Austen Childs, the 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year, is making his third appearance in the NCAA singles championship. The junior from Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand is currently No. 19 in the ITA Singles rankings and has posted a 26-10 overall record while going 20-4 as Louisville's No. 1 player. He is a three-time all-conference selection and two-time Player of the Year.
Fellow juniors Simon Childs (Hillington, England)and Alejandro Calligari (Bradenton, Fla.) combine to lead U of L in doubles as the No. 26 ranked duo in the nation. Calligari and Simon Childs have tallied an 11-3 mark this spring. This will be the first NCAA doubles appearance for Childs and Calligari.
Simon Childs and Austen Childs have been named as an alternate doubles team. Childs and Childs have posted an 8-5 overall record and are No. 36 in the ITA doubles rankings.
Players Mentioned
