By Riley Vance–

The Cards (4-4, 0-3) were defeated 4-1 in a close matchup against Notre Dame (6-6, 1-2) on Feb. 25. The Fighting Irish have a history of being tough competitors for the Cards. 

Notre Dame took the lead in doubles with wins on courts one and two. 

On court one, junior Fabien Salle and sophomore Matthew Fung fell 6-3 to No. 19 Richard Ciamarra and Axel Nefve (ND). 

Junior Sergio Hernandez and senior Tin Chen held the lead by a small margin on court two for the majority of the match but ultimately fell short to Brandon Ancona and Tristan McCormick (ND). 

The match on court three between juniors Alex Wesbrooks and Josh Howard-Tripp and Notre Dame’s Matthew Che and Jean-Marc Malkowski was left unfinished at 5-5. 

Starting off singles strong, Salle upset No. 6 Ciamarra (ND) in straight sets to put Louisville on the scoreboard (6-3, 6-2).

Notre Dame secured wins on courts one and five to bring their overall score to 3-1. 

Fung fell 7-5, 6-3 to Connor Fu (ND) and No. 71 Chen fell 6-3, 6-4 to Axel Nefve (ND).

Hernandez, Howard-Tripp, and Wesbrooks were all fighting in third sets on courts three, four, and six.

The match was clinched when McCormick (ND) defeated Hernandez 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. 

Howard-Tripp was up 3-1 in his third set, and Wesbrooks was up 4-3. 

The Cards play again on Friday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. against Boston College (0-2) at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. 

Final Scores:

Singles

  1. Axel Nefve (ND) def. #71 Tin Chen (LOU) 6-3, 6-4
  2. Fabien Salle (LOU) def. #6 Richard Ciamarra (ND) 6-3, 6-2
  3. Tristan McCormick (ND) def. Sergio Hernandez (LOU) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
  4. Josh Howard-Tripp (LOU) vs. Matthew Che (ND) unfinished, 7-5, 4-6, 2-1
  5. Connor Fu (ND) def. Matthew Fung (LOU) 7-5, 6-3
  6. Alex Wesbrooks (LOU) vs. Brandon Ancona (ND) unfinished, 5-7, 6-4, 4-3

Doubles

  1. #19 Richard Ciamarra/Axel Nefve (ND) def. Matthew Fung/Fabien Salle (LOU) 6-3
  2. Brandon Ancona/Tristan McCormick (ND) def. Sergio Hernandez/Tin Chen (LOU) 6-3
  3. Josh Howard-Tripp/Alex Wesbrooks (LOU) vs. Matthew Che/Jean-Marc Malkowski (ND) unfinished, 5-5

Photo courtesy of GoCards