By: Christian Turner
The University of Akron tennis team will face off against the Louisville Cardinals on Friday.
The Zips, who have an overall record of 8-0, are coming off of a victorious weekend, defeating Cleveland State, Youngstown State and New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The team finished the 2011 season with an overall record of 20-5.
“Our singles play has always been our biggest strength as a team,” said UA Head Coach Brandon Padgett. “We hope to impose our will on our opponents, breaking them down during the singles portion of the match.”
Akron boasts a number of undefeated singles records thus far for the 2012 season. Senior Zara Harutyunyan, who was recently name MAC tennis Player of the Week, is a strong force for the Zips with a singles record of 7-0 at the No. 1 slot.
At doubles, juniors Angelina and Angelika Jogasuria remain vigilant primarily at the No. 2 slot. At No. 1, Harutyunyan and partner Prang Pantusart have continued to dominate the competition.
The team has had very few losses in doubles. Padgett is confident in the team’s ability to learn from those mistakes and use them to dominate their next opponent.
This weekend’s match will be a battle of the undefeated. Louisville comes into this weekend’s match with an overall record of 7-0. They have faced little resistance from their opponents. Their most recent victory came from their sweep of Furman University.
The Cardinals placed third in the Big East Conference in 2011 where they lost to No. 3 seed USF.
The Zips will also face the Cincinnati Bearcats, who recently had their first win of the season against Wright State University. The Bearcats come into the match against Akron with an overall record of 1-6.
Both matches will be played at Latuchie Tennis Center in Stow, Ohio.