Men's Tennis Set for NCAA Championship

The University of Louisville men's tennis team will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on UCF in the first round of the NCAA Championship Friday at 11 am.

The winner between No. 43-ranked Louisville (21-9) and No. 28 UCF (16-6) will face the winner of the other first-round match between Butler (18-5) and the overall No. 3 seed and third-ranked Ohio State (29-3) which will be played at 2 p.m. Friday. The regional final will take place on May 13 at 3 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NCAA Championship Round of 16 in Athens, Ga.

• With the at-large bid, Louisville is making its twelfth overall NCAA tournament appearance and seventh in the last nine years. Louisville's best finish in the NCAA tournament came in 2010 when the Cardinals reached the round of 16.

"This time of year is always special," said head coach Rex Ecarma. "Even though this is my twelfth NCAA, I still get excited, so I could only imagine what the players are feeling right now. We have been very thorough in our preparation and the players have been locked in. This group of players have great personality and we enjoy training and competing together. UCF is a very good team with a top flight coaching staff. The last time UCF coach John Roddick took a team to the NCAAs (Oklahoma) they nearly were crowned the national champions, but lost in the finals. He has a hungry team and knows how to get it done. Parker (Ross) does a great job at Butler and Ty (Tucker) at Ohio State is a living legend in our sport. It is one of the more exciting NCAA Regionals and hope our fans can make the short drive up to support us."

About Louisville:
• The Cardinals enter the NCAA Championship with a 21-9 overall record after finishing the season with a 6-6 ACC record.
• The Cards are ranked No. 42 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings, moving up one spot from last week after going 1-1 in the ACC Championship last weekend.
• The 21-9 regular season tally marks the third 20-win season in four years and the 10th overall 20-win season in program history for Louisville.

Donohue and Wynn Earn NCAA Doubles Bid:
• Senior Sean Donohue (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) and freshman Parker Wynn (North Richland, Texas) have been selected to compete in the 2017 NCAA Doubles Championship which will be held May 25-29 in Athens, Ga., following the completion of the NCAA Team Championship.
•The duo stands at No. 23 in the most recent ITA doubles rankings. The pair has compiled a 24-7 overall record including an 18-7 tally at No. 1.

Cardinal Player Notes
• Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (Capbreton, France) was selected to the All-ACC second team while Parker Wynn earned third team honors.
• Morin-Kougoucheff is ranked No. 111 in the ITA singles rankings. The sophomore holds down the No. 1 spot in singles and has tallied a 22-16 overall record while going 10-10 in dual matches. He is in his fourth week in the ITA singles rankings after making his debut at No. 114 on April 4.
• Wynn leads the Cardinals with a 40-10 overall singles record and is 24-4 in dual matches playing mostly at Nos. 2 and 3. He has won nine of his last 10 matches.
• Wynn is currently second on Louisville's list for single season victories and needs three more to move into a tie for first with Sebastian Stiefelmeyer who set the record with 42 wins in 2015.
• Sophomore Brandon Lancaster (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) is 29-13 in singles and carries an 18-8 mark in dual matches while playing mostly at No. 5.
• Head coach Rex Ecarma is in his 27th season at UofL and has compiled a 444-292 overall record.

Cards against the Opponents
UCF
Series Record: UCF leads 3-0
Last Meeting: March 17, 1997 – UCF won 6-1 in Orlando
How they got here: The Knights (16-6, 1-2 AAC) earned an at-large bid after a runner-up finish in the American Athletic Conference Championship. UCF defeated Tulsa 4-1 in the quarterfinals and No. 27 Tulane in the semifinals before the Knights fell 4-1 to No. 24 USF in the conference championship.
UCF in the National Rankings:
Team: 28
Singles: No. 42 Korey Lovett
Doubles: No. 64 Harrison Richmond/Mariano Porter
No. 72 Danny Kerznerman/Korey Lovett
No. 87 Korey Lovett/Harrison Richmond

Ohio State
Series Record: Ohio State leads 12-1
Last Meeting: Jan. 26, 2014 – Ohio State won 4-1 in Columbus, Ohio in the finals of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend
How they got here: Ohio State (29-3, 11-0 Big Ten) clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by winning its12th Big Ten tournament title and its 10th in the last 12 years with a 4-1 win over No. 16 Michigan in the championship.
Buckeyes in the National Rankings:
Team: No. 3
Singles: No. 2 - Mikael Torpegaard
No. 9 - Hugo Di Feo
No. 46 - JJ Wolf
Doubles: No. 16 Herkko Pollanen/Midael Torpegaard
No. 30 Hugo Di Feo/Martin Joyce

Butler
Series Record: Louisville leads 9-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 12, 2016 – Louisville won 6-1 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
How they got here: Butler (18-5, 3-1 Big East) earned an automatic bid after claiming the Big East Conference Championship with three straight 4-3 decisions over Villanova, Georgetown, and Marquette.
Bulldogs in the National Rankings:
Doubles: Mikheil Khmiadashvili/Gason Dragos

ACC Strong
Seven Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Tennis teams were selected into the 2017 Division I NCAA Championship. ACC Teams receiving bids were top-seeded Wake Forest, ACC Champion No. 2 Virginia, No. 9 North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville.
• Ten ACC singles players were invited to compete in the NCAA Singles Flight Championship. Wake Forest's Petros Chrysochos, an automatic qualifier, enters as the No. 5 seed and ACC Player of the Year Christopher Eubanks from Georgia Tech enters as the No. 7 seed
• Five doubles teams, and one alternate, were selected for the NCAA Doubles Flight Championship, headlined by automatic qualifier and No. 4 seed Christian Seraphim/Skander Mansouri from Wake Forest.
•Virginia is the defending NCAA team champion.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sean Donohue

Brandon Lancaster

Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff

Parker Wynn

University of Louisville Athletics