STILLWATER, Okla. – The NCAA Doubles Championship run of Connor and Codie van Schalkwyk came up on a tough note Tuesday evening as they fell to the eighth-ranked duo of Natan Rodrigues and Etienne Donnet of Louisville 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
“This loss doesn’t change what they accomplished this year. Louisville is eighth-ranked for a reason and they showed it today. I think this experience will help them and our team next season,” said ODU Head Coach Dominik Mueller.
The first set saw the Louisville tandem jump out to a 5-0 lead before the van Schalkwyks got on the board with a game in game six of the set. Louisville served out to win the opening set 6-1.
In the second, ODU had the first serve and each team held their serve throughout the set. The tiebreaker saw Louisville take an early 3-0 lead, but the Monarchs trimmed the deficit to 4-2. A pair of quick points for Louisville gave them a 6-2 advantage. ODU scored two points on its last serve, as Louisville finished off the tiebreaker with a 7-4 decision.
On the season, the van Schalkwyks went 11-7 which included a run to the ITA Atlantic Region final and ITA Fall National Championship match. At the fall nationals, the brothers defeated duos from UAB, Pacific, Pepperdine and TCU. They entered the NCAA’s ranked 57th nationally.