University of Washington
Louisville
Dawgs Take Down No. 30 Cardinals At Duke
January 28, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 28, 2012
DURHAM, N.C. - The season is still in the very early stages, but the Husky men's tennis team picked up what could prove to be one of its best wins of the year today, knocking off 30th-ranked Louisville on a neutral court in the first round of ITA National Team Indoor Championships qualifying. The Huskies won by a 4-0 count, though the final score does not indicate how tough a match it was, and how satisfying a win.
Washington (4-0) will now face 10th-ranked Duke tomorrow at 10 a.m. Pacific at the Blue Devils' Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. Duke won its opening round match against Virginia Commonwealth following the UW dual. The winner of tomorrow's match will earn a trip to Charlottesville, Va. next month as one of 16 teams competing for the national team title.
The Cardinals came into the match with a 3-0 record, after having reached the NCAA second round a year ago. The Huskies had a 3-0 record of their own, but had not yet been tested against a top-40 team.
Doubles would set the tone for Washington. Kyle McMorrow and Emmett Egger bounced back in a big way from a loss in their last match, as they upset the 24th-ranked tandem of Andrew Carter and Sebastian Stiefelmeyer, 8-5, at No. 1 doubles. But both the second and third doubles matches headed into tiebreaks. Freshman Jeff Hawke and sophomore Max Manthou came through with the tiebreak win at second doubles over Gupta and Damrongsri to clinch the point, and the No. 3 doubles match was stopped due to the shortened tournament format. Hawke and Manthou are now 4-0 on the season.
Redshirt freshman Nicholas Kamisar has yet to drop a set in singles play, and he put the first point on the board in singles today with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Robert Hall at No. 6 singles. At No. 1 singles, 15th-ranked junior Kyle McMorrow pocketed a ranked victory, as he beat 113th-ranked Carter in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Even with a 3-0 lead, the match was far from secure for UW. All four of the remaining singles matches headed into third sets, with the Huskies needing just one more win. Emmett Egger and Marton Bots lost their first sets at second and third singles, but came back to win second sets, and Viktor Farkas won his first but lost his second, and was at 4-4 in the third set at No. 4 singles.
But none of those matches were able to reach the finish line, since Manthou pulled away in his third set against Chris Simich at fifth singles. Manthou took the first, 6-3, before Simich rallied for a 6-2 second set win, but the Tacoma native responded in the third with a 6-1 win to clinch the 4-0 Husky victory.
Washington Men's Tennis
ITA National Team Indoor Qualifying - First Round
Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center - Durham, N.C.
January 28, 2012
No. 26 Washington 4; No. 30 Louisville 0
Doubles
2) Hawke/Manthou (UW) def. Gupta/Damrongsri (Lou), 9-8
3) Farkas/Bots (UW) vs. Hall/Simich (Lou), DNF
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles
1) (15) Kyle McMorrow (UW) def. (113) Andrew Carter (Lou), 6-4, 6-3
2) Emmett Egger (UW) vs. Michael Lippens (Lou), DNF
3) Marton Bots (UW) vs. Sebastian Stiefelmeyer (Lou), DNF
4) Viktor Farkas (UW) vs. Albert Wagner (Lou), DNF
5) Max Manthou (UW) def. Chris Simich (Lou), 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
6) Nicholas Kamisar (UW) def. Robert Hall (Lou), 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 1, 5
