April 11, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. — University of Kentucky men’s tennis senior Eric Quigley has been named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week after defeating two highly ranked singles players and helping UK clinch at least a share of the SEC regular-season title last week, the league office announced Wednesday.
This is the second such honor of the season for Quigley, who was named SEC Player of the Week back on Feb. 1 after becoming the winningest singles player in school history. Kentucky has had four SEC Player of the Week honors this season. Junior Anthony Rossi was given the honor on Feb. 22, while sophomore Tom Jomby earned the title last week.
Quigley was the star of the week for Kentucky in its victories over No. 10 Mississippi State and No. 14 Ole Miss. The senior and co-captain started the weekend with an impressive three-set win over No. 15 Artem Ilyushin of Mississippi State. He then finished off singles action with a come-from-behind win over No. 19 Nik Scholtz of Ole Miss.
The victory over Scholtz was the match-clincher for Kentucky against Ole Miss, sealing the Wildcats a least a share of the SEC regular-season title. With Kentucky leading the match 3-1, Quigley and Scholtz entered a critical third set. Quigley began the set with a break to take an early lead before earning another break at 4-2 and then holding serve to clinch the decisive fourth point of the match.
The singles victories continue what has been a remarkable senior season for Quigley. The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., has been unbeatable against SEC foes this season, earning a 10-0 record against some of the best players in the nation. The senior is 20-1 this season in dual matches and 43-6 overall.
Quigley currently holds a six-match winning streak, including five of those six wins against players that are ranked in the top 42 in the nation. So far this spring, Quigley, who is ranked third in the nation in singles, has taken down 12 players that are currently ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings.
Quigley and the rest of the Kentucky Wildcats will be in action again Thursday at 1 p.m. ET at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex against No. 23 Illinois. Admission to the match is free of charge, while live scores and a live interactive blog will be available online at UKathletics.com.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter or like “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.
