By Conner Farrell–

Men’s tennis pulled out a close win over Notre Dame, 4-3.

The match began with the doubles teams of Chris Morin-Kougoucheff and Ciro Lampasas prevailing winning 6-2. Louisville won the doubles point when No. 65 pair of Sean Donohue and Parker Wynn defeated No. 12 Eddy Covalschi and Josh Hagar.

In singles, Notre Dame won three of the first four courts. The lone winner for the Cards was Wynn, who defeated Alex Lebedev 6-4, 6-4.

With two courts remaining and Notre Dame one point away from the victory, Morin-Kougoucheff defeated No. 33 Hagar 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

The final court was between George Hedley and Notre Dame’s Grayson Broadus. Broadus won the first set 6-0, with Hedley coming back to the second set 7-6.

In the final, match-clinching set, Hedley trailed 5-4 with Broadus serving. Hedley overcame the deficit and won the final three points to secure the victory.

“Two weeks ago, I told the team, ‘If you train as if you were the last man playing on a three-three match,’ and we here we are. George Hedley, it’s three-three. And he was prepared,” coach Rex Ecarma said.

Ecarma realizes how big the win is for his team.

“These guys are coachable and they understand. We keep rebuilding and rebuilding, and I think this is a good stepping stone for them to get another ranked win,” Ecarma said.

The team continues their winning streak to now seven matches and moves to 11-3 and 2-1 in ACC. They’re back in action on March 24 against Florida State.

Photo by Nancy Hanner / The Louisville Cardinal