University of Louisville
OKLAHOMA
No. 13 Louisville Men's Tennis Downs No. 24 Oklahoma
February 11, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 11, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 13th ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team defeated No. 24 Oklahoma 4-3 on Friday evening in the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Cardinals improve to 8-0 on the season, the best start in Louisville history. The win was against a Sooner team that made it to the round of eight in the NCAA Tournament last season.
"It was not only a great college match, but a great college atmosphere. Not only was there a capacity crowd sitting courtside, but even a bigger crowd outside. It was a really special moment. I want to give thanks to all the special student-athletes, UofL Greeks and fans for supporting a special group of young men." said head coach Rex Ecarma.
The Cardinals got the match started off right winning the first point by winning at No. 1 and 2. The combination of eighth ranked Austen Childs and Viktor Maksimcuk at No. 1 proved to be too much for the opposition defeating Ionut Beleleu and Costin Paval 9-7, the 24th ranked doubles team in the nation. Simon Childs and Andrew Carter teamed to beat John Warden and Lawrence Formentera 8-5 at No 2, clinching the point for Louisville. Oklahoma's Peerakit Siributwong and Tsvetan Mihoy defeated Alejandro Calligari and Robert Hall 8-7 at No. 3 in a tiebreaker.
"I was really happy with the doubles point, along with Simon Childs and Andrew Carter. That team is a team we have not used much, but is extremely hot. In singles, Austen Childs and Dante Terenzio put us one away from clinching, but Oklahoma has a reputation of fighting back and did it again today. You could feel them surging back, but Carter found a way to play aggressively a set down to clinch for us," said Ecarma.
In singles action, Austen Childs gave the Cardinals a quick 2-0 lead as he took down Beleleu 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1. Dante Terenzio gave Louisville a commanding 3-0 lead as he defeated Mihoy 6-2, 6-3 in the No 6 spot. The Sooners got on the scoreboard at the No. 3 position as Simon Childs fell to Laurentiu Gavrila 6-4, 7-6 cutting the Cardinals' lead to 3-1.
The remaining three match-ups went into three sets. Carter finished strong knocking off Formentera 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 in the No. 5 slot. At No. 2, Maksimcuk No. 2 took the first set, but was not able to pull off the victory as Paval won 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. The last match-up of the night came down to the No. 4 slot as Calligari tried to battle back in the third set, but eventually fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
"I just felt all day Carter's court was going to be the clincher for us and he showed he has improved mentally and technically in his play. He is our MVP of today's match."
The Cardinals will be back in action on Feb. 14 when they travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to take on No. 3 Tennessee at 1:00 p.m.
Louisville vs. Oklahoma
Feb. 11, 2011
Louisville, Ky.
Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Louisville 4 - Oklahoma 3
Singles
1 - Austen Childs (UL) d. Ionut Beleleu (Okla.) 6-1, 6-2
2 - Costin Paval (Okla.) d. Viktor Maksimcuk (UL) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
3 - Laurentiu Gavrila (Okla.) d. Simon Childs (UL) 6-4, 7-6
4 - Peerakit Siributwong (Okla.) d. Alejandro Calligari (UL) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
5 - Andrew Carter (UL) d. Lawerence Formentera (Okla.) 4-6, 6-0, 6-4
6 - Dante Terenzio (UL) d. Tsvetan Mihoy (Okla.) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,6, 3, 5, 2, 4
Doubles
1 - A. Childs/Maksimcuk (UL) d. Beleleu/Paval (Okla.) 9-7
2 - S. Childs/ Andrew Carter (UL) d. Warden/Formentera (Okla.) 8-5
3 - Siributwong/ Mihoy (Okla.) d. Calligari/Hall (UL) 9-8
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Players Mentioned
