Tulane, Louisville Advance to NCAA Men's Tennis Second Round

Damar Johnson, Louisville

Tulane and Louisville advanced to the second round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship today. No. 20 Tulane defeated No. 42 Louisiana-Lafayette, 4-2, while No. 33 Louisville beat No. 32 Notre Dame, 4-1. In other first round action, Wake Forest posted a 4-1 decision over TCU.

The Green Wave victory sets up a rematch between Tulane and 11th-seeded LSU tomorrow at noon for a chance to play in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

Louisville will take on No. 5 Illinois in Champaign tomorrow afternoon with an NCAA Round of 16 appearance on the line.

Tulane Recap (courtesy of NCAASports.com)
Tulane (22-5) beat ULL earlier this season, 4-0. But the Friday's match was much closer from the beginning.

The doubles point remained tight through two weather delays.

The Ragin' Cajuns' Ryan Hess and Dusan Tubak beat David Goulet and Jonah Kane-West, 8-5 on court three. Tulane's Ted Angelinos and Jacobo Hernandez struck back, beating Robin Ley and Shaun Ellison, 8-4 on court two.

After falling behind early in their match, ULL's Evghenii Corduneanu and Amanjot Singh came back on Tulane's Dmitriy Koch and Alberto Sottocorno to lead 7-5. Corduneanu and Singh were leading at match point when lightning struck in the area.

Sottocorno was serving behind 15-40 at match point to the ULL duo when play resumed. Tulane won the next point but then Sottocorno double-faulted, allowing Singh and Corduneanu to clinch the point for the Cajuns.

In singles, Kane-West put Tulane on the scoreboard by blanking Hess, 6-0, 6-0 on court six.

Tulane gained the lead when Goulet beat Tabak on court two, 7-6, 6-1.

Ellison evened the score again on court four with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Angelinos.

Matches on courts one, three and five went to third sets with the team score knotted at 2-2.

Tulane's Koch topped Corduneanu on court 1 after a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 battle.

Sottocorno then clinched the match for Tulane on court five with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 win. That sealed the 4-2 win for the Green Wave.

The court six match between Singh and Hernandez was suspended at 6-6 in the third set.

"After losing the doubles we were a little concerned," said Tulane head coach Robert Klein. We're going to have to step it up tomorrow in doubles. But I'm proud of the way our guys responded in singles."

Louisiana-Lafayette was playing without their usual No. 6 singles and No. 2 doubles starter. Hess stepped into the lineup in his place.

"We laid it all on the line," said ULL head coach Justin McGrath. "We were a man down today, but they didn't let it bother them. We came out with so much heart and fought, but right now I'm so proud of my team."

Singles competition:
1. Dmitriy Koch (TUL) def. Evghenii Corduneanu (ULL) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. David Goulet (TUL) def. #122 Dusan Tabak (ULL) 7-6, 6-1
3. Jacobo Hernandez (TUL) vs. Amanjot Singh (ULL) 6-3, 2-6, 6-6, unfinished
4. Shaun Ellison (ULL) def. Ted Angelinos (TUL) 6-3, 6-3
5. Alberto Sottocorno (TUL) def. Robin Ley (ULL) 6-4, 6-7, 6-4
6. Jonah Kane West (TUL) def. Ryan Hess (ULL) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition:
1. Evghenii Corduneanu/Amanjot Singh (ULL) def. #27 Dmitriy Koch/Alberto Sottocorno (TUL) 8-5
2. Ted Angelinos/Jacobo Hernandez (TUL) def. Robin Ley/Shaun Ellison (ULL) 8-4
3. Dusan Tabak/Ryan Hess (ULL) def. David Goulet/Jonah Kane-West (TUL) 8-5

Louisville Recap (courtesy of NCAASports.com)
Louisville 4, Notre Dame 1

Doubles
1. Jeremy Clark/Jakob Gustafsson (LOU) def. Brent D'Amico/Eric Langenkamp (ND), 9-8 (5)
2. Ryan Keckley/Barry King (ND) def. Jhonny Berrido/Slavko Radman (LOU), 8-5
3. Damar Johnson/Mark Kennedy (LOU) def. Stephen Bass/Sheeva Parbhu (ND), 8-3

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles
1. # 76 Damar Johnson (LOU) def. Stephen Bass (ND), 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Brent D'Amico (ND) vs. Slavko Radman (LOU) DNF
3. Jakob Gustafsson (LOU) def. #115 Barry King (ND), 7-6 (4), 6-3
4. Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Octavian Nicodim (LOU), 6-1, 6-4
5Jeremy Clark (LOU) def. Irackli Akhvlediani (ND), 6-2, 6-4
6. Nicolas Houard (LOU) vs. Patrick Buchanan (ND) DNF

Order of finish: 5, 1, 4, 3

TCU Recap(courtesy of NCAASports.com)
LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 17 Wake Forest men’s tennis team defeated No. 45 TCU, 4-1, in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championship on Sat., May 14, at the McLeod Tennis Center in Lubbock.

“We haven’t played for a long time, three weeks to be exact,” said Wake Forest head Coach Jeff Zinn. “I wasn’t sure how we were going to play today. We didn’t talk about it much in practice, but I’m sure it was in their minds how well we would play after such a long layoff. I thought we competed very well. The match was interesting because it was fiery and was the last match if you lost.”

Wake Forest won the doubles point as the No. 1 doubles team of Derrick Spice and Brett Ross finished first after the TCU doubles team of Rafael Abreu and Fabrizio Sestini retired due to an injured player. The No. 2 doubles duo of Andrew Hamar and Marius Adamski clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 win over TCU’s Jordan Freitas and Jacob Martin.

In singles action, Spice defeated Martin at the No. 1 spot, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to seal the match for the Demon Deacons. Also winning for Wake Forest was Todd Paul at No. 2, 6-4, 6-4, over Jacopo Tezza, while Ross defeated Freitas, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 4. TCU’s only win was at the No. 5 spot as Abreu was victorious over Adamski, 7-6, 6-3.