Morin-Kougoucheff and Wynn Fall Short in NCAA Doubles First Round

Thursday, May 24

Winston-Salem, NC

4:00 PM

University of Louisville

NCAA Doubles Championship

Morin-Kougoucheff and Wynn Fall Short in NCAA Doubles First Round

May 24, 2018 | Men's Tennis

Morin-Kougoucheff and Wynn battle, but fall 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 to the overall No. 1 seed in NCAA Doubles Championship

By: Lori Korte

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- The University of Louisville's 18^th-ranked pair of junior Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and sophomore Parker Wynn battled, but ultimately fell 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 to top-ranked, and overall No. 1 seed Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic from Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Doubles Championship Thursday evening.

"If I pretended that this loss did not hurt, I would not be honest," said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. "We were in complete control most of the match winning the first set 6-3. We got up 4-2 in the second and were serving at 6-4 5-4 to close it out. We had more chances in the final set tiebreaker being up 4-1, 5-2, and 7-4. We were never behind in the match until 8-9 match point. We were ahead 99 percent of the time. But I give Mississippi State credit, they never gave up and that is why they are the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It will take some time to get over this, but I am still very proud of Chris and Parker."

Morin-Kougoucheff (Capbreton, France) and Wynn (North Richland Hills, Texas) finished the 2018 season with an overall record of 27-11 and went 15-5 at No. 1 in dual match play. They appeared in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national doubles rankings 10 times, reaching as high as No. 6 at the conclusion of the fall tournament season.

With their at-large bid, Morin-Kougoucheff and Wynn became the eighth doubles team in program history to be selected for the NCAA Championships.Wynn earned his second NCAA doubles berth and Morin-Kougoucheff became the third player in program history to play in the NCAA singles and doubles championships.