Cards Defeat Texas Tech 4-3 in NCAA First Round

Saturday, May 6

Columbus, Ohio

10 AM

University of Louisville

Texas Tech

Etienne Donnet returns a ball in the match against Notre Dame

May 06, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Louisville advances to NCAA Regional Finals for the first time since 2017

By: Lori Harmon

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Etienne Donnet's 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over Olle Wallin lifted the University of Louisville men's tennis team to a 4-3 win over Texas Tech in the first round of the NCAA tournament Saturday afternoon at Ohio State's Auer Stadium.

The Cardinals (17-11) advance the regional final to face host, third-ranked Ohio State Sunday at 12 p.m.

"We worked all year for the NCAA tournament and it is great to see the guys competing the way they did," said UofL head coach Rodrigo da Silva. "I would like to give credit to Texas Tech. We were serving for the doubles point and they came back. We were up 3-0 in singles, but they came back and tied the match. I am so proud of our guys who stayed focused and competed until the end."

The Cards earned the doubles point with wins on courts one and three to go up 1-0 in the match. On court three, Will Mayew and Matthew Fung teamed to beat Olle Wallin and Isaac Arevalo 6-1 to give Louisville an early edge. The Red Raiders answered with a 6-4 win at No. 2 to even the doubles tally. The first point of the match was decided on court one where No. 12-ranked Natan Rodrigues and Fabien Salle were locked in a battle with Dimitrios Azoidis and Reed Collier and prevailed 7-6 (7-5) to clinch the point.

In singles action, Rodrigues added to the lead with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Franco Ribero at the two-spot. On court three, Salle earned a 7-5, 6-4 win to give the Cards a 3-0 advantage in the match.

Texas Tech (14-12) got on the scoreboard at the No. 5-spot and added another win at No. 6 to make the score 3-2. The Red Raiders followed with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (2) victory on court four to pull even.

With the match knotted at 3-3, all eyes turned to court one. Donnet won the first set 6-2 with Wallin taking the second 6-3. In the decisive third set, Donnet ralled from a 3-1 deficit to prevail 6-4, and send the Cardinals to their first regional final since 2017.

#37 Louisville 4, #31 Texas Tech 3
Singles
1. #45 Etienne Donnet (LOU) def. #48 Olle Wallin (TTU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
2. #77 Natan Rodrigues (LOU) def. Franco Ribero (TTU) 6-4, 6-1
3. #73 Fabien Salle (LOU) def. Isaac Arevalo (TTU) 7-5, 6-4
4. Reed Collier (TTU) def. Matthew Fung (LOU) 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2)
5. Lorenzo Esquici (TTU) def. Andre' Steinbach (LOU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Dimitrios Azoidis (TTU) def. David Mizrahi (LOU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
Doubles
1. #12 Natan Rodrigues/Fabien Salle (LOU) def. Dimitrios Azoidis/Reed Collier (TTU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Franco Ribero/Piotr Pawlak (TTU) def. Etienne Donnet/Sergio Hernandez (LOU) 6-4
3. Will Mayew/Matthew Fung (LOU) def. Olle Wallin/Isaac Arevalo (TTU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Texas Tech 14-12; National ranking #31
Louisville 17-11; National ranking #37
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,3,5,6,4,1)
NCAA Round 1
Official: Mark Anderson T-3:14