Kentucky Men’s Tennis to Face Georgia State in NCAA First Round

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Wildcats are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the 27th time in program history. UK will take on Georgia State in the first round on Friday, May 12 at 2 p.m. on the campus of host school Wake Forest University. 

The winner of the Kentucky’s match with GSU will take on the winner of Wake Forest and UNC-Wilmington on Saturday, May 13 at 5 p.m.

“We haven’t achieved what we set out to be this season but getting into the tournament is a good accomplishment,” head coach Cedric Kauffmann said.  “It takes a lot of work and we can’t take that for granted. Even though it’s exam week, we’ll be ready face Georgia State next Friday. It’s a tough bracket but we will play one point at a time.”

The Wildcats have now reached the NCAA tournament in four of the last five seasons under head coach Cedric Kauffmann. 

Kentucky enters the tournament as No. 2 seed in the pod. UK has a 14-12 record overall and a 5-7 record in the SEC. UK has three ranked individuals in the latest ITA ranking. No. 16 Will Bushamuka is the highest ranked Wildcat, while No. 69 Ryo Matsumura and No. 116 Trey Yates joins him in the rankings. In doubles, Beck Pennington and Enzo Wallart come in at No. 28 in the nation, UK’s only ranked doubles duo. 

The Cats’ opponent, Georgia State, heads into the NCAA Tournament with a 19-6 record and is the No. 3 seed in the pod. The Panthers earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Sun Belt Tournament with a 4-3 victory over South Alabama. GSU has one ranked player, No. 92 Zackery Kennedy.

Wake Forest is the No. 1 seed overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Demon Deacons fell in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament final to Virginia, 4-3 on Sunday. Wake Forest has four singles players ranked, including two in the top-15. Petros Chrysochos comes in at No. 4 while Skander Mansouri is No. 13. Also included are Borna Gojo at No. 51 and Christian Seraphim at No. 75. Seraphim and Mansouri team up for the No. 1 doubles pairing in the nation. 

UNC-Wilmington earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament after a 4-2 victory over William & Mary to win the Colonial Athletic Conference automatic bid. UNCW is 14-8 this season. Newcomer Ignasi de Rueda earned rookie of the year accolades in the CAA.

For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter or Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team on Facebook.