By Catherine Laroche

The No. 2 seed University of Louisville men’s tennis team rolled over No. 7 seed Georgetown University and the Bulls of the University of South Florida during the Big East championship in Tampa, F.L., on April 20, before losing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the final round.

The Cardinals won the doubles point to start the match. The No. 22 duo of seniors Slavko Radman and Damar Johnson took out Georgetown junior Jeff Schnell and sophomore Kevin Walsh 8-2 at the top seed, while freshman David Simon and sophomore Robert Rotaru defeated Hoya freshman Will Lowell and sophomore Adam Gross 8-3 at the No. 2 spot. The No. 3 match between freshman James McArthur and freshman Chris Herrlinger and junior Tedd Tywant and freshman David Tillem was suspended after the point was clinched.

“It really helped that we jumped off to a very good start, sweeping the doubles point,” men’s tennis coach Rex Ecarma said. “That gave us an advantage in that Georgetown would have to beat us in four of six singles points.”

The Cards won all three singles points in straight sets. Johnson won 6-1, 6-2 over Lowell at No. 2, while No. 2 freshman Kenneth Nordheim topped Gross 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 3 spot. Simon defeated Georgetown Senior Robert Baggio 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 5 spot.

“Georgetown fought tooth and nail and didn’t give an inch,” Ecarma said. “Damar Johnson, David Simon and Kenneth Nordheim really came through and dictated their matches from the get-go.”

Matches at the Nos. 1, 4 and 6 spots were all suspended after the Cardinals had secured the winning point.

On day two of the Big East Championship, the No. 2 seeded U of L slipped past No. 3 seeded South Florida in a close match in Tampa, Fl. The defending Big East Champions advanced to the conference championship finals for the third consecutive year.

“I was extremely proud of the effort our team had and how hard they fought against a talented USF team on their home court,” Ecarma said.

The Cardinals took the doubles point to start the match. Radman and Johnson topped the Bull’s junior Mahmoud Harned and freshman Thomas Estrada, 8-3 at the No. 1 seed. Freshman David Simon and sophomore Robert Rotaru took down freshman Henning Hipp and Estrada, 8-2 at the No. 2 spot.

“One thing we felt pretty good about was our doubles play, and they came through with flying colors,” Ecarma said. “Our doubles teams have been perfect throughout the tournament.”

In singles action, the Bulls tied the match at the No. 5 slot when Estrada topped freshman David Simon 6-3, 6-2. Harned gave South Florida a 2-1 lead with his 6-0, 6-4 victory over freshman Kenneth Nordheim. Freshman Horatiu Oltean tied the match 2-2 by defeating Hipp 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 6 spot. Johnson’s 6-4, 7-5 wins over junior Marc Jaeger pulled the Cards ahead 3-2. Rotaru beat USF’s Toledo 7-5 in the first set, but fell 6-1, 6-3 in the next two as the Bulls evened the match again. No. 68 ITA singles ranked Radman clinched the win at the No. 1 position by beating Freshman Ales Svigeli 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

“After doubles, USF came back with a vengeance and really turned the tide back to them,” Ecarma said. “Our team had tremendous energy and focus in the hot sun and wind. We got a nice win from freshman Horatiu Oltean and then it was time for our seniors to step up- and they did.”

In the final match, U of L’s David Simon and Robert Rotaru won the second match against Sheeva Parbhu and Brett Helgeson 8-2. Ryan Keckley and Stephen Bass of Notre Dame defeated U of L’s Damar Johnson and Slavko Radman.

Notre Dame wound up winning the title for its sixth time.

Louisville now takes a break until the NCAA team tournament May 13-15.