April 4, 2012

LOUISVILLE, Ky.- The Thundering Herd women’s tennis team will travel to Louisville, Ky., this weekend for a 2:00 p.m. showdown with the University of Louisville Cardinals on Friday, and a match against Conference USA opponent Tulsa at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Marshall is coming off a weekend in which it had a seven-match winning streak snapped by VCU, but still managed a 5-1 victory over Old Dominion University the following afternoon to remain in the ITA National Rankings at No. 74. The Herd is 11-7 on the season with just three more regular season matches remaining.

Louisville is 9-7 overall and enters Friday’s match riding a four match winning streak that includes a 7-0 victory over an Eastern Michigan team that Marshall beat 5-2 in its first match of the spring season. Other common opponents between the two schools are Morehead State, Purdue, and Miami of Ohio. Both the Herd and the Cardinals swept Morehead State 7-0, but both universities lost to Purdue and Miami. Marshall is 7-2 all-time against Louisville and won last season’s meeting 6-1.

The Golden Hurricane of Tulsa, though, is a completely different story. The Herd has never beaten Tulsa in five attempts, and lost 4-3 in the two school’s last meeting back in the spring of 2010. The Golden Hurricane is an impressive 15-3 this season and has won five-straight matches, three of which came against nationally ranked opposition. Tulsa is currently ranked No. 26 in the nation, and will be Marshall’s highest ranked opponent since playing No. 8 ranked UNC earlier this spring. The Herd is 0-5 against nationally ranked teams this season and 2-2 in neutral-site matches.

Live stats for Friday’s Marshall vs. Louisville match may be found by clicking the link below.

Marshall vs. Louisville (Live Stats)