Men's Tennis Falls 4-1 to Virginia in ACC Championship

Thursday, April 26

Cary, NC

2:30 PM

University of Louisville

Virginia

Men's Tennis Falls 4-1 to Virginia in ACC Championship

April 26, 2018 | Men's Tennis

Cards take the doubles point to start the match

By: Lori Korte

The University of Louisville men's tennis team took the doubles point, but ultimately fell 4-1 to Virginia its first round match of the 2018 ACC Championship.

"Virginia played very well. We won a dramatic doubles point and they came out and won every first set," said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. "Chris and Parker fought back to win the second set and Nicolas was at set point to win the second set. Parker was about to serve for the match and Nicolas was surging. I felt both of those guys were going to win. Chris played a great match but lost a high-level match. I was just surprised that we lost straight sets down low. I really liked our chances their before the match, but on game day anything can happen. Now we have to hope certain conference tournaments around the country help us to get an at-large NCAA bid."

The Cardinals (15-11) opened the match by taking a highly-competitive doubles point. Virginia gained an early advantage at the two-spot where Aswin Lizen and Gianni Ross defeated juniors Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and Federico Gomez 6-2. The Cardinals countered with a victory at No. 2 when senior Ciro Lampasas and sophomore Parker Wynn bested No. 63 Matthew Lord and Carl Soderlund 6-4. The first point of the match was decided on court three which featured a battle between the Louisville pair of junior George Hedley and sophomore Fredrik Moe and Virginia's Ammar Alhapbani and Spencer Bozsik. The Cardinals prevailed 7-6 with a 7-5 tiebreaker decision to give the Cards a 1-0 lead.

In singles action, Virginia evened the score at No. 5 where Lord beat Hedley 6-2, 6-3. The Cavaliers took the lead as Ross defeated Gomez 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 and gained a 3-1 advantage with Alhapbani's 6-3, 6-4 win over junior Brandon Lancaster at the six-spot. On court one, Morin-Kougoucheff, No. 62 in the ITA singles rankings, fell 6-1 in his first set against No. 26 Soderlund, but rebounded to take the second 6-2 and force a decisive third set which Soderlund won 6-2 to clinch the match.

Court two also showcased a matchup between ranked players as No. 109 Wynn and No. 46 Lizen split sets at the No. 2 spot. Lizen notched the first set 6-1 and Wynn registered a 6-2 victory in the second. The Louisville sophomore was leading 5-3 in the third set when the match was decided. Senior Nicolas Rouanet lost his first set 6-3 to Kyrylo Tsygura and was up 5-4 in the second when the match ended.

The 2018 NCAA Men's Tennis team selection show will take place on May 1 at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com with the individual selections announced on May 2.

No. 48 Virginia 4, No. 44 Louisville 1
ACC Championship Second Round
April 26, 2018 | Cary Tennis Park, Cary, N.C.
Singles
1. No. 26 Carl Soderlund (VA) def. No. 62 Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (UL) 6-1, 2-6, 6-2
2. No. 109 Parker Wynn (UL) vs. No. 46 Aswin Lizen (VA); match was unfinished: 1-6, 6-2, 5-3
3. Gianni Ross (VA) def. Federico Gomez (UL) 6-4, 6-2
4. Nicolas Rouanet (UL) vs. Kyrylo Tsygura (VA); match was unfinished: 3-6, 5-4
5. Matthew Lord (VA) def. George Hedley (UL) 6-2, 6-3
6. Ammar Alhaqbani (VA) def. Brandon Lancaster (UL) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
1. Ciro Lampasas and Parker Wynn (UL) def. No. 63 Matthew Lord and Carl Soderlund (VA) 6-4
2. No. 34 Aswin Lizen and Gianni Ross (VA) def. Federico Gomez and C. Morin-Kougoucheff (UL) 6-2
3. George Hedley and Fredrik Moe (UL) def. Ammar Alhaqbani and Spencer Bozsik (VA) 7-6 (7-5)