April 7, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to No. 3 Ohio State on Wednesday, the No. 12 University of Kentucky men’s tennis team returns to Southeastern Conference action this weekend, wrapping up its home slate with dual-matches against No. 75 Arkansas and No. 30 LSU at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Kentucky (21-7, 5-3 SEC) will battle Arkansas (7-13, 0-8 SEC) on Friday at 3 p.m. ET before concluding its home schedule with LSU (9-10, 4-4 SEC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Live scores and a live blog for both matches will available at UKathletics.com.
The Wildcats are coming off a 1-1 mark in two mid-week contests after a hard-fought loss to Ohio State and a dominating victory over in-state rival Morehead State on Wednesday. Against the highly ranked Buckeyes, Kentucky earned two solid upsets in singles with No. 7 Eric Quigley taking down No. 3 Blaz Rola and No. 100 Alberto Gonzalez defeating No. 53 Dennis McCarthy. UK also earned an upset in doubles with No. 64 Quigley and senior Brad Cox making light work of No. 13 Matt Allare and Peter Kobelt.
Kentucky is 14-3 at home this season, scoring wins over some of the best teams in the nation. UK’s three home losses this season have come to teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation. In all, the Wildcats are an impressive 42-9 at home since the start of the 2009 season.
Last weekend in SEC play, UK grabbed its 19th and 20th wins of the season, earning a piece of history in each win. Kentucky’s 19th win came against No. 15 Florida, marking the first time the Wildcats had beat the Gators since 2002 and the first time in Gainesville, Fla., since 1992. UK followed its performance against the Gators with a dominating win against South Carolina, securing its first back-to-back 20-win seasons in over 20 years.
LSU enters the weekend having won three of its last four, including a victory over the top-20 ranked Auburn Tigers. The Tigers have two ranked singles players in No. 82 Neal Skupski and No. 124 Sebastian Carlsson. LSU also has one ranked doubles tandem in No. 10 Skupski and Carlsson.
Arkansas has dropped two of its last three matches and has yet to grab a win in conference play, sitting at 0-8. The Razorbacks do not have a player ranked in singles or doubles.
Last year, UK defeated Arkansas and LSU in dual-matches, defeating both SEC foes by a score of 5-2. Quigley, Alex Musialek, Anthony Rossi and Gonzalez each won their singles match against the two schools, with Kentucky taking the doubles point in both matches.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, visit UKathletics.com or follow “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.
