March 12, 2005

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Old Dominion men's tennis team fell to No. 35 Louisville, 4-2, in the Monarchs' second match at the National Blue/Gray Tournament. The Monarchs' freshman Rodrigo Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) had a hand in both Old Dominion points earning a No. 5 singles win and teaming with senior Izak van der Merew (Kempton Park, South Africa) for a victory at No. 1 doubles.

Souza earned a straight set, 6-3, 6-4, win over the Cardinals' Nicolas Howard.

In doubles play, Old Dominion earned the point as Souza and van der Merwe picked up a hard-fought 9-8 win over #33 Jakob Gustafsson and Jeremy Clark at the No. 1 spot, while sophomores Nate Grover (Suffolk, Va.) and Henrique Cancado (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) posted an 8-6 decision over Tony Teufel and Damar Johnson at No. 3 doubles.

The loss dropped the men's team to 5-8, having played eight nationally ranked opponent during the spring dual meet season.

The ODU men's tennis team will play Harvard on March 12, 2005 at 4 pm in the consolation of the National Blue/Gray tournament in Montgomery , AL . The Monarchs faced the Crimson just one week ago with Harvard earning a 6-1 win. Old Dominion's point of the match came from van der Merwe's 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over then-No. 28 Jonathan Chu at No. 1 singles.

The Blue Gray National Tennis Classic, founded by the late Jack Bushman, dates to 1949. In later years, his son and touring tennis pro Jackie Bushman helped him run the tournament. The tournament grew rapidly into a premier event and its roster has held such future Wimbledon and U.S. Open champions as Tony Trabert (1951) and Stan Smith (1961). It also hosted the then future 1985 Wimbledon singles finalist Kevin Curren, 1993 French Open Doubles Champions Murphy and Luke Jensen; 1996 Wimbledon singles finalist Mali Vai Washington, and current U.S. Davis Cup Team member James Black.

Participating Teams: Harvard, Notre Dame, Tulane, Florida State, Rice, Boise State, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi; San Diego, Tulsa, Fresno State, North Carolina State, Old Dominion, Brown, William and Mary and Colorado.

No. 35 Louisville 4 - No. 64 Old Dominion 2

Singles:
No. 1 - #87 Damar Johnson (UL) d. #25 Izak van der Merwe (ODU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 - Slavko Radman (UL) vs. Henrique Cancado (ODU) 7-5, 6-7, 3-2 (susp.)
No. 3 - Jakob Gustafsson (UL) d. Eidy Igarashi (ODU) 6- 4 , 6-7, 7-5
No. 4 - Octavian Nicodim (UL) d. Adriano Mello (ODU) 6-2, 6- 0
No. 5 - Rodrigo Souza (ODU) d. Nicolas Houard (UL) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 - Jhonny Berrido (UL) d. Julian Cirimbelli (ODU) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles:
No. 1 - van der Merwe/ Souza (ODU) d. #33 Gustafsson/ Jeremy Clark 9-8
No. 2 - Nicodim/Radman (UL) d. Igarashi/Mello (ODU) 8-1
No. 3 - Grover/Cancado (ODU) d. Tony Teufel/Johnson (ODU) 8-6