Men's Tennis Falls 4-3 at No. 19 Notre Dame

Saturday, March 10

South Bend, IN

12:00 PM

University of Louisville

Notre Dame

March 10, 2018 | Men's Tennis

Cards snap six-match win streak

By: Lori Korte

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Louisville men's tennis team fell 4-3 to No. 19 Notre Dame 4-. The Cardinals (9-4, 1-1) will return to action on March 18 when they play host to Boston College and Detroit-Mercy in a doubleheader at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

The Cardinals took the doubles point to start the match. Louisville's 22^nd-ranked duo of junior Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and sophomore Parker Wynn bested No. 55 Brendon Kempin and Tristan McCormick 6-3 at the No. 1 spot to give their team the early edge. Juniors Federico Gomez and Brandon Lancaster outlasted Richard Ciamarra and Matt Gamble 7-6 on court two to give the Cards a 1-0 lead.

"We were confident going into today with a six-match winning streak," said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. "We started off well, playing a clutch doubles point. Parker and Chris have their groove back again and Fede and Brandon clinched another one."

In singles action, Gomez added to the lead with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Matt Gamble at No. 4.

The Irish got on the scoreboard when Tristan McCormick defeated junior Brandon Lancaster 6-4, 6-2 at the five-spot, bringing the score to 2-1. Guillermo Cabrera evened the score with a 6-2, 6-2 decision against Louisville senior Nicolas Rouanet at No. 3. On court one, No. 33-ranked Alex Lebedev defeated No. 90 Wynn 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 to put the Irish on top 3-2.

At the No. 2 spot, Notre Dame's Ciamarra picked up a 6-4 first-set win over Morin-Kougoucheff, but the Louisville junior rebounded to take the second 7-6 to force a third set. After falling behind 4-1, Morin-Kougoucheff rallied to win the next five games to win 6-4 and tie the overall score at 3-3.

The match came down to court six where Hedley fell 6-4 to Broadus in the first set, but came back with a 6-4 win in the second. Broadus prevailed 6-4 in the second

"Federico Gomez was dominant on the number four singles court and Chris used his experience and tennis intelligence to win a hard- fought match at number two," said Ecarma. "We then lost numbers one and five singles and it came down to George on six. He started off the third set poorly and didn't overcome the lead he gave his opponent. I still have a lot of confidence in this team and look forward to training during spring break."

#19 Notre Dame 4, Louisville Men's Tennis 3
March 10, 2018 at Notre Dame, Ind.
(Eck Tennis Pavilion)
Singles
1. #33 Alex Lebedev (ND) def. #90 Parker Wynn (LOU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-1
2. C. Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU) def. Richard Ciamarra (ND) 4-6, 7-6, 6-4
3. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) def. Nicolas Rouanet (LOU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Federico Gomez (LOU) def. Matt Gamble (ND) 6-3, 6-1
5. Tristan McCormick (ND) def. Brandon Lancaster (LOU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Grayson Broadus (ND) def. George Hedley (LOU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #22 Parker Wynn/C. Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU) def. #55 Brendon Kempin/Tristan McCormick (ND) 6-3
2. Federico Gomez/Brandon Lancaster (LOU) def. Richard Ciamarra/Matt Gamble (ND) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Guillermo Cabrera/Alex Lebedev (ND) vs. George Hedley/Ciro Lampasas (LOU) 6-5, unfinished

Match Notes:
Louisville Men's Tennis 9-4, 1-1
Notre Dame 9-6, 2-0; National ranking #19
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,5,3,1,2,6)
T-2:45 A-75