By Andrew Krumme
Coach Rex Ecarma and the Louisville men’s tennis team completed a successful weekend of tennis as they upended two formidable opponents to improve their record to 4-3. The Cardinals’ first opponent was Middle Tennessee State. The Raiders stormed into the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center with an undefeated record and a top-60 national ranking. Despite Middle Tennessee State’s momentum coming into the match, Louisville dropped them 4-2.
Louisville set the tone early by taking the doubles point behind some solid play from both the Damar Johnson/Tony Teuful and Jeremy Clark/Jakob Gustaffason doubles duos. While things were looking bleak for the Raiders, both their number three and five singles players took home victories. But it wasn’t enough. Louisville’s Johnny Berrido, Gustaffason and Johnson all won their singles matches to slide by with a one-point victory.
Ecarma was thrilled with his players’ effort. “I have to admit that Middle Tennessee was more talented than we were. They have more firepower and more players who can serve at 120 or more miles per hour. We played with so much heart and determination that we weathered the storm. This match is what college tennis is all about.”
While Thursday’s win was a big one for the Cards, they still had business to take care of against the visiting Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday. Unlike the MTS match, the singles results paced the Cardinal men to a win this time around. Ole Miss took the doubles point, defeating the Cards’ top two teams in dramatic fashion.
While Ecarma and his men went into the singles matches already a point down, they took care of business as Johnson, Octavian Nicodim, Gustaffason and Berrido all won, giving Louisville the decisive victory.
The Cards will hit the road for the next four matches as they take on Kentucky, Clemson, Harvard and Indiana in the coming weeks.
