April 20, 2008
TAMPA, Fla. -
TAMPA, Fla. - Second-seeded Louisville lost to the fifth-seeded DePaul 4-1 in the third place match of the BIG EAST Conference tournament Sunday afternoon.
The Cardinals started the match by taking the doubles point, picking up wins at Nos. 1 and 3. David Simon and Viktor Maksimcuk defeated Austin Doerner and Jose Moncada 8-5 at the top seed, while Simon Childs and Kenneth Nordheim topped Ben Hartman and Adam Williams 8-4 at the three-slot.
DePaul regrouped to take singles points at Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 6 for the 4-1 win. Moncada defeated No. 43 Austen Childs 6-2, 6-3 at the top seed. Vanja Grgec picked up a 0-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Viktor Maksimcuk at the three-spot. Alasdair Graitz topped Simon Childs 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. Bartosz Jozwiak beat Robert Rotaru 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6.
"We started off very well winning doubles point pretty routinely and got off the ground the right way, said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "In singles, Viktor Maksimcuk and Simon Childs won their first sets easily, after that, things started getting tough for the team as they lost the next four singles points. It was evident that yesterday's four hour, 20 minute marathon match against South Florida really took its toll on the guys. I think they'll walk away learning a lot about themselves and what they need to do next year to get better. As far as this loss and what it means for our NCAA tournament chances, we'll find out whether it adversely hurt us, or if our NCAA tournament resume was strong enough to withstand it.
U of L (17-8) will await an at-large selection to the 64-team NCAA tournament field which will be announced on April 29.
April 20, 2008
BIG EAST Tournament Third Place Match
#5-seed DePaul, 4 - #2-seed Louisville 1
Singles
1. Jose Moncada (DPU) def. #43Austen Childs (UofL), 6-2, 6-3
2. David Simon (UofL) vs. Austin Doerner (DPU), 7-6 (5), 2-6 DNF
3. Vanja Grgec (DPU) def. Viktor Maksimcuk (UofL), 0-6, 6-1, 6-1
4. Alasdair Graetz (DPU) def. Simon Childs (UofL), 2-6, 6-1, 7-5
5. Alejandro Calligari (UofL) vs. Ben Hartman (DPU), 6-4, 5-5 DNF
6. Bartosz Jozwiak (DPU) def. Robert Rotaru (UofL), 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
1. Simon/Maksimcuk (UofL) def. Doerner/Moncada (DPU), 8-5
2. A. Childs/McArthur (UofL) vs. Graetz/Grgec (DPU), 5-5 DNF
3. S. Childs/Nordheim (UofL) def. Hartman/Williams (DPU), 8-4
