May 24, 2011
2011 NCAA Singles Draw (PDF) | 2011 NCAA Doubles Draw (PDF)
STANFORD, Calif. – Fresh off helping lead the No. 10 University of Kentucky men’s tennis team to the NCAA quarterfinals, UK senior Brad Cox and juniors Eric Quigley and Alex Musialek will compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, beginning Wednesday at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif.
The first round of the NCAA Singles Championships begins Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT with Quigley and Musialek both playing during that time slot. A round of singles competition will be played each day until the NCAA Singles final on May 30. The doubles event will not begin until Thursday afternoon and will continue with a round of play each day until the final on May 30. Times for doubles have not been set due to multiple players playing in both events.
Quigley and Musialek each earned one of 48 at-large bids to participate in the singles tournament, while Quigley and Cox will team up as doubles partners after earning one of 19 at-large bids to take part in the doubles tournament.
Quigley, ranked sixth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings, is seeded seventh overall in the singles event and will play No. 72 Mehdi Bouras of UNLV in the opening round Wednesday. Quigley and Bouras, a senior for the Rebels, have not faced each other in college. If Quigley advances, he will face the winner of Chris Kearney of UC Irvine and Marcel Thiemann of Ole Miss in the tournament’s second round on Thursday. Thiemann defeated Quigley in the NCAA round of 16 last season.
The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., Quigley owns a 22-10 dual-match record at No. 1 singles this season, while he sits at 44-14 overall this season. Quigley earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors for the second consecutive year this season, posting an 8-5 record against SEC foes in addition to a 28-14 record against players current nationally ranked players. Quigley has not been ranked outside of the top seven in singles all season.
Musialek, who is ranked 53rd in the latest ITA rankings, will play No. 35 Ed Corrie of Texas in the opening round. If Musialek advances, he will face a familiar foe in either No. 16 Austen Childs of in-state Louisville or No. 18 Wil Spencer of SEC rival Georgia. Musialek has never faced Corrie in collegiate action.
The native of Dax, France, has a 20-10 record in dual matches this season, including a 10-3 mark against the SEC. Musialek has defeated 11 top-115 opponents this season and was named second-team All-SEC for the second consecutive season. The junior is 27-15 overall this season.
No. 19 Cox and Quigley, UK’s lone doubles duo in the event, will face No. 3 Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher of Stanford in the opening round of doubles Thursday. Klahn, who won the NCAA Singles Championship last year, and Thacher are seeded No. 5-8 in the event. Last year, Klahn and Thacher advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship, while Quigley and Cox made it to the quarterfinals.
Cox and Quigley have been ranked in the doubles rankings nearly all season. The tandem has achieved a 20-18 mark this season, including six wins over top-45 ranked tandems in the team’s last 11 matches.
Quigley and Musialek also participated in the singles championships last season, while the doubles duo of Quigley and Cox will compete in its second consecutive doubles championships. Cox is now the only Wildcat in school history to have played in the doubles championship all four seasons at UK after making the tournament with former UK great Bruno Agostinelli his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Kentucky joins Tennessee (three), Georgia (three), Florida (two) and Ole Miss (two) as the only SEC schools with multiple players selected to the singles tournament. Sixteen schools in the country achieved the distinction.
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