Friday, January 20
LOUISVILLE, Ky.
12 p.m.
University of Louisville
vs
SAMFORD
Men’s Tennis Opens 2017 Dual Match Season this Weekend
January 19, 2017 | Men's Tennis
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville men's tennis team will open the 2017 dual match season this weekend with a doubleheader against Samford 12 p.m. and Chicago State at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Cardinals will then travel to Evanston, Ill. to take on No. 13 Northwestern at the Combe Tennis Center on Sunday.
"We're really excited," said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. "Samford and Chicago State are both good programs and we know we've got our work cut out for us, so we're going to prepare really hard for them. They're coached very well and we're going to have to play very well on Friday. We've got some momentum after last weekend's Florida Gulf Coast Invitational. The guys did a really good job, won a bunch of matches and came back from that trip with a higher level of confidence. I'm looking to see them continue to grow this weekend.
Samford enters Friday's match having lost their season-opener to Alabama 4-0 on Jan. 16. They are coming off a 13-5 season in 2016 and return four juniors and add three freshmen to their roster.
Chicago State will open its season against Louisville coming off a 3-22 campaign in 2016. The Cougars return three juniors and two sophomores to the team.
Northwestern finished the 2016 campaign with a 26-5 record and an NCAA tournament appearance. The Wildcats' lineup boasts the No. 26 singles player Strong Kirchheimer who tallied 30 wins in 2016. Northwestern will open its season on Thursday against No. 7 TCU.
"Sunday will be a really tough road trip," said Ecarma. "Northwestern is arguably one of the top teams in the Big Ten – a championship contender… their top three players are as good as any of team's top three in the country. That's have a veteran team and they are looking to have a very special season, so it's going to be a very tough road trip. We'll go into it with confidence and hopefully we can play our A-plus game in Evanston."
About Louisville Men's Tennis
• The Cardinals return six players from last season's team including senior Sean Donohue and redshirt junior Santiago Salazar. Sophomores George Hedley, Brandon Lancaster, Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and Michael Quang also look to capitalize on a year of experience in the vaunted ACC. Additionally Louisville welcomes six newcomers with the addition of junior college transfers Ciro Lampasas and Nicolas Rouanet and freshmen Daniel Bennett, Clement Filho, Fredrik Moe and Parker Wynn.
Up Last: The Cardinals traveled to Ft. Meyers, Fla., for the Florida Gulf Coast Spring Invite. On the weekend, Louisville totaled 19 singles wins and nine doubles victories with freshman Clement Filho and sophomore Brandon Lancaster leading the way with perfect 4-0 singles records and the duo of senior Sean Donohue and freshman Parker Wynn compiling a 3-0 tally in doubles.
• Entering Friday's doubleheader, Wynn leads the team with a 16-6 overall singles record while Donohue has tallied a team-best 11-3 doubles mark.
• Head coach Rex Ecarma is in his 27th season at UofL and has a 423-283 overall record.
Cards against the field:
Samford
Series Record: Samford leads 3-2
Last Meeting: April 11, 1998 – Louisville won 5-2 in Birmingham, Ala.
Chicago State
Series Record: Louisville leads 2-0
Last Meeting: February 18, 2015 – Louisville won 7-0 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Northwestern
Series Record: Louisville leads 6-5
Last Meeting: January 17, 2016 – Northwestern won 4-0 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
"We're really excited," said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. "Samford and Chicago State are both good programs and we know we've got our work cut out for us, so we're going to prepare really hard for them. They're coached very well and we're going to have to play very well on Friday. We've got some momentum after last weekend's Florida Gulf Coast Invitational. The guys did a really good job, won a bunch of matches and came back from that trip with a higher level of confidence. I'm looking to see them continue to grow this weekend.
Samford enters Friday's match having lost their season-opener to Alabama 4-0 on Jan. 16. They are coming off a 13-5 season in 2016 and return four juniors and add three freshmen to their roster.
Chicago State will open its season against Louisville coming off a 3-22 campaign in 2016. The Cougars return three juniors and two sophomores to the team.
Northwestern finished the 2016 campaign with a 26-5 record and an NCAA tournament appearance. The Wildcats' lineup boasts the No. 26 singles player Strong Kirchheimer who tallied 30 wins in 2016. Northwestern will open its season on Thursday against No. 7 TCU.
"Sunday will be a really tough road trip," said Ecarma. "Northwestern is arguably one of the top teams in the Big Ten – a championship contender… their top three players are as good as any of team's top three in the country. That's have a veteran team and they are looking to have a very special season, so it's going to be a very tough road trip. We'll go into it with confidence and hopefully we can play our A-plus game in Evanston."
About Louisville Men's Tennis
• The Cardinals return six players from last season's team including senior Sean Donohue and redshirt junior Santiago Salazar. Sophomores George Hedley, Brandon Lancaster, Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and Michael Quang also look to capitalize on a year of experience in the vaunted ACC. Additionally Louisville welcomes six newcomers with the addition of junior college transfers Ciro Lampasas and Nicolas Rouanet and freshmen Daniel Bennett, Clement Filho, Fredrik Moe and Parker Wynn.
Up Last: The Cardinals traveled to Ft. Meyers, Fla., for the Florida Gulf Coast Spring Invite. On the weekend, Louisville totaled 19 singles wins and nine doubles victories with freshman Clement Filho and sophomore Brandon Lancaster leading the way with perfect 4-0 singles records and the duo of senior Sean Donohue and freshman Parker Wynn compiling a 3-0 tally in doubles.
• Entering Friday's doubleheader, Wynn leads the team with a 16-6 overall singles record while Donohue has tallied a team-best 11-3 doubles mark.
• Head coach Rex Ecarma is in his 27th season at UofL and has a 423-283 overall record.
Cards against the field:
Samford
Series Record: Samford leads 3-2
Last Meeting: April 11, 1998 – Louisville won 5-2 in Birmingham, Ala.
Chicago State
Series Record: Louisville leads 2-0
Last Meeting: February 18, 2015 – Louisville won 7-0 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Northwestern
Series Record: Louisville leads 6-5
Last Meeting: January 17, 2016 – Northwestern won 4-0 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Players Mentioned
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