Oct. 20, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team continued to perform well this fall season, going 5-2 in singles play and 6-1 in doubles play on the opening day of the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Ohio Valley Regional Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday.
Kentucky started the day with solid performances in singles action, led by No. 3 Eric Quigley, who made light work of Robert Salcedo of Dayton 6-0, 6-0 in the opening round. No. 20 Alex Musialek and No. 95 Anthony Rossi also won their first-round matches with Musialek taking down Michael Lyzwa of Wright State 6-1, 6-0 and Rossi defeating Ray Leonard of Ball State 6-1, 6-1.
Sophomore Alejandro Gomez continued his undefeated streak this fall by posting a 7-6, 6-2 win over Elfore Zito of Middle Tennessee State, while fellow sophomore Panav Jha won his opening-round match 6-2, 6-0 over Jose Berardo of Murray State. Sophomore Tom Jomby was awarded a walkover in the first round, advancing him to the second round.
Sophomores Maks Gold and Ryuji Hirooka fell in the opening round with Gold dropping a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Sander Gille of East Tennessee State and Hirooka falling 6-2, 6-2 to Joe Salisbury of Memphis. Gold and Hirooka will continue their tournament runs in the singles consolation draw.
Singles action continues with the second and third round on Friday. Quigley will face Rodrigo Amaral of Belmont in the second round at 8:30 a.m., while Jomby’s second round begins at the same time against Richard Canelas of Xavier. Rossi will face Will Kendall of Indiana at 9:30 a.m., while Jha squares off against Szymon Tatarczyk of Purdue at 10 a.m., and Gomez takes on Pawel Poziomski of Purdue at 10 a.m. Musialek will conclude the second-round action against Hugo Klientovsky of EKU at 11 a.m. All times are Eastern.
In doubles action, Kentucky won six of its seven matches, advancing three tandems to the round of 16. UK’s top-ranked duo of Quigley and Musialek received a bye in the first round and advanced to the round of 16 when Renato Antun and Rafael Matos of Belmont retired early in the match.
Gomez and Jha started the day with an 8-2 over Patrick Bandy and Jimmy Roebker of Xavier in the first round and then won its second-round match 8-3 over Jesus Bandres and Sander Gille of East Tennessee State. Gold and Hirooka are UK’s final tandem to enter the round of 16 after defeating William Hever and Poziomski of Purdue 8-5 and Marlon Brand and Ben Davis of MTSU 8-4.
Kentucky’s French duo of Rossi and Jomby defeated Cameron Dickerson and Forrest Edwards of MTSU in the opening round 8-4, before falling to the Tennessee tandem of Brandon Fickey and Edward Jones in the second round.
The doubles main draw round of 16 will continue on Saturday.
Quigley has claimed back-to-back singles titles at the event after taking down then-No. 1 JP Smith of Tennessee last year and No. 13 Ryan Lipman of Vanderbilt University in 2009. Quigley has been dominate at the tournament the past two seasons, posting a 13-0 record in singles play, dropping only one set.
The winners of the singles and doubles main draw will advance to compete in the 2011 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, which will be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Nov. 3-6.
Hosted by Columbia University, the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships features a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw. Heading the field are champions from USTA/ITA Division I Regional Championships held across the country in October, winners of the USTA/ITA National Small College “Super Bowl,” and the singles quarterfinalists, doubles finalists and consolation champions from the ITA Men’s All-American Championships.
The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships was inaugurated in 1978 for the men and 1984 for the women. Past champions and finalists include current professionals John Isner (Georgia), James Blake (Harvard), Somdev Devvarman (Virginia), Irina Falconi (Georgia Tech), Lisa Raymond (Florida) and Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford).
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter or search “University of Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team” on Facebook.
USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Indoor Championships
Goodfriend Tennis Center/Knoxville Racquet Club – Knoxville, Tenn.
Results/Schedule of Play – All Times Eastern
Thursday, Oct. 20
Singles First Round:
No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Robert Salcedo (Dayton) 6-0, 6-0
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Ray Leonard (Ball State) 6-1, 6-1
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Elfore Zito (MTSU) 7-6, 6-2
Panav Jha (UK) def. Jose Berardo (Murray State) 6-2, 6-0
Sander Gille (ETSU) def. Maks Gold (UK) 6-4, 6-2
Joe Salisbury (Memphis) def. Ryuji Hirooka (UK) 6-2, 6-2
No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Michael Lyzwa (Wright State) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles First Round:
Alejandro Gomez/Panav Jha (UK) def. Patrick Bandy/Jimmy Roebker (Xavier) 8-2
Maks Gold/Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. William Hever/Pawel Poziomski (Purdue) 8-5
Tom Jomby/Anthony Rossi (UK) vs. Cameron Dickerson/Forrest Edwards (MTSU) 8-4
Doubles Second Round:
No. 19 Eric Quigley/Alex Musialek (UK) def. Renato Antun/Rafael Matos (Belmont) 3-3, ret.
Brandon Fickey/Edward Jones (UT) def. Tom Jomby/Anthony Rossi (UK) 8-6
Maks Gold/Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Marlon Brand/Ben Davis (MTSU) 8-4
Alejandro Gomez/Panav Jha (UK) def. Jesus Bandres/Sander Gille (ETSU) 8-3
Friday, Oct. 21
Singles — 2nd Round
Singles — 3rd Round
Singles — Consolation 1st Round
Saturday, Oct. 22
Doubles — 3rd Round
Doubles — Quarterfinals
Singles — Consolation 2nd Round
Singles — 4th Round
Singles — Consolation 3rd Round
Sunday, Oct. 23
Singles — Consolation Quarterfinals
Singles — Quarterfinals
Singles — Consolation Semifinals
Singles — Semifinals
Doubles — Semifinals
Monday, Oct. 24
Singles — Final
Singles — Consolation Final
Doubles — Final
* Matches Thursday-Sunday begin each day at 8:30 a.m. ET. Finals on Monday are set for 10 a.m. ET
