Louisville is hitting the road once again as they travel to Columbia, S.C. for the ITA Kickoff Weekend. A win from the Cardinals would send them to the ITA Indoor Championships. The teams are seeded as follows: No. 2 South Carolina, Louisville, LSU, and Clemson.
Louisville, with a record of 3-0, will face LSU in their first match-up on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET. The winner of this match will go on to play the winner of South Carolina vs. Clemson on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The consolation match will take place at 10 a.m. on the same day.
The Cardinals secured their first road victory of the season with a 4-3 win over Northwestern last Sunday. Freshman Miguel Avendaño had an impressive performance, going 4-0 in three matches and playing a key role in clinching the doubles point in each of those matches. As a result, he was named ACC Men’s Tennis Freshman of the Week.
Louisville has a 1-0 all-time series lead against LSU. In their last meeting on January 29, 2010, Louisville came out on top with a 4-2 victory. LSU, however, has been strong this season, not dropping a set yet and sweeping both Louisiana Lafayette and New Orleans 7-0 in matches on Wednesday. LSU has the No. 49-ranked doubles duo in Chen Dong and Julien Penzlin.
Louisville trails in the all-time series against No. 2 South Carolina with a 0-1 record. In their last meeting on March 21, 2024, Louisville suffered a 6-3 loss on the road. South Carolina has only played one match so far this season but made a statement by defeating defending national champions, Virginia, 4-3 in a top-five match-up. Casey Hoole is the No. 92 singles player in the country for the Gamecocks.
Louisville has had more success against Clemson, leading the all-time series 11-4. In their last meeting on April 9, 2023, Louisville came away with a 4-2 victory on the road. Clemson started the season with wins over Brown (6-1) and Citadel (7-0). Noa Vukadin is the No. 84 singles player for Clemson and teams up with Maxwell Smith to form the No. 30 doubles duo.
It will be an exciting weekend of tennis as Louisville takes on formidable opponents in their quest to advance to the ITA Indoor Championships.
