Men's Tennis Set for Season-Opening Weekend

The University of Louisville men's tennis team will open the 2016 dual match season with a pair of doubleheaders this weekend at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Cardinals will kick off the four-match homestand Friday when they face Troy at 12 p.m. and Dayton at 7 p.m.. Louisville wrap up the weekend Sunday when No. 26 Northwestern and Morehead State visit the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center to face the Cardinals at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively. Admission is free.

"I designed this weekend to be very challenging," said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. "Troy is a team that has won its conference championship two years in a row and lost a close match to Florida State in the first round of the NCAA. They return every starter but one. They remind me of the tennis version of Houston football this season. They are dangerous and a huge challenge for my inexperienced team. We play again that evening against one of the most improved teams in the Midwest-Dayton. This team knows us well and is definitely not scared of us. We will know after Friday how we respond to a big challenge and gain some much needed experience."

About Louisville Men's Tennis
Louisville enters the season at No. 36 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings. Senior Alex Gornet (Louisville, Ky.) stands at No. 108 in the singles rankings and combines with fellow senior Jeffrey Brown (Mandeville, La.) to stand at No. 57 nationally in doubles.

Gornet registered a 12-6 singles record in the fall. Last season, he tallied a 25-13 overall mark in singles and went 15-9 in dual matches while playing mostly at No. 2 and 3.

The duo of Gornet and Brown posted a team-best 6-4 doubles record in the fall after being ranked No. 35 in the preseason standings. In 2015, the duo led the Cardinals with 16-5 overall record and went 14-3 in dual matches playing mostly at No. 1 for the Cardinals. The duo spent six weeks in the ITA rankings reaching as high as No. 56 last season.

Last season: The Cardinals are coming off of a 23-9 campaign in 2015 while posting a 7-5 record in their inaugural season. Louisville capped off the year with its 11^th NCAA appearance.

• Louisville returns four players and welcomes seven newcomers to the 2016 squad. Back from last season are Brown and Gornet and sophomores Courtney Lock (Harare, Zimbabwe) and Santiago Salazar (Medellin, Colombia). This year's newcomers include Sean Donohue (Louisville, Ky.), a junior transfer from Alabama; and freshmen Christian Haushammer (Delray Beach, Fla.), George Hedley (Berkshire, England), Brandon Lancaster (Louisville, Ky.), Carlos Longhi Neto (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (Capbreton, France) and Michael Quang (Forest Hills, Md.).

Freshman fall leaders: Freshman Brandon Lancaster led the Cardinals in singles with a 13-3 mark in the fall season. The duo of Christian Haushammer and George Hedley tallied a 5-2 fall record in doubles.

• The Cardinals graduated six seniors from last year's team, all of whom started in singles and/or doubles, including All-American Sebastian Stiefelmeyer and fellow All-ACC selection Albert Wagner.

Up Next: Following this weekend, Louisville will travel to Athens, Ga., to face Memphis in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Jan. 23. Georgia and UC Santa Barbara will meet in the other first round match.

Cards against the field:
Troy
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Trojans: Troy will open the 2016 season against the Cardinals Friday. The Trojans enter the season at No. 63 in the ITA team rankings after finishing 2015 with a 25-7 record and an NCAA tournament appearance.

Dayton
Series Record: Louisville leads 6-0
Last Meeting: March 27, 2013 – Louisville won 7-0 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Scouting the Flyers: Dayton will open its 2016 season against Louisville Friday evening. The Flyers posted an 11-9 overall record in 2015 and reached the second round of the Atlantic 10 Championship.

Northwestern
Series Record: Louisville leads 6-4
Last Meeting: Feb. 28, 2014 – Louisville won 5-2 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Scouting the Wildcats: Northwestern opens the 2016 season at Louisville Sunday morning. The 26^th-ranked Wildcats are coming off of a 21-10 campaign in 2015 in which the advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship. The Wildcats boast with three players in the ITA singles rankings. Konrad Zieba leads the team at No. 16, Sam Shropshire stands at No. 50, and Strong Kirchheimer rounds out the ranked singles players at No. 55.

Morehead State
Series Record: Louisville leads 33-1
Last Meeting: Feb. 8, 2015 – Louisville won 5-0 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Scouting the Eagles: This weekend will be the Eagles' opening match of the 2016 season. The Eagles finished the 2015 season with a 6-16 record.

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Players Mentioned

Jeffrey Brown

Sean Donohue

Alex Gornet

Christian Haushammer

George Hedley

Brandon Lancaster

Courtney Lock

Carlos Longhi Neto

Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff

Michael Quang

Santiago Salazar

Sebastian Stiefelmeyer

Albert Wagner

University of Louisville Athletics