LEXINGTON, Ky. — University of Kentucky men’s tennis junior Eric Quigley took down the third-ranked player in the nation and the Wildcats grabbed two other upsets in singles and doubles action, but fell in a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to No. 3 Ohio State at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Wednesday.
With Ohio State (20-2) leading in the match 3-2 with two singles matches still on court, No. 7 Quigley posted his biggest singles win of the season, avenging an earlier loss to No. 3 Blas Rola with a impressive 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4 win at No. 1 singles. The singles win tied the match 3-3 and set the scene for a winner-take-all decision at No. 2 singles against UK junior No. 51 Alex Musialek and Buckeye junior No. 14 Chase Buchanan.
After Musialek took the first set 6-4, Buchanan would answer back in the second, jumping out to an early lead by breaking the Kentucky junior. Buchanan would go on to win the second set 6-3. Musialek would jump to a quick lead in the third set, going up a break before Buchanan came back to get the match back on set. Both players went back and forth for the next few games, tying the match 5-5 before Musialek started to cramp and Buchanan was able to get a break to go up 6-5 and then hold serve to win the third set and the match.
Kentucky (21-7) also received impressive singles play from junior No. 100 Alberto Gonzalez, who earned one of his biggest singles wins of the year by defeating No. 53 Dennis McCarthy in straight sets. After a back-and-forth first set that led to Gonzalez winning in a tiebreaker, the Kentucky senior would go up a break early in the second set and never look back, grabbing a 6-4 win to claim the upset.
The Wildcats played an excellent doubles point, earning wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Quigley and senior Brad Cox, ranked 64th in the nation in doubles, defeated No. 13 Matt Allare and Peter Kobelt 8-4 at No. 1 doubles to start the action. After Ohio State grabbed a win at No. 2 doubles, UK’s No. 3 doubles team of Musialek and sophomore Anthony Rossi and Ohio State’s Rola and Balazs Novak played one of the best doubles match of the season, battling back and forth to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, the UK tandem fell behind 4-2 before running off three straight points to grab a 5-4 lead. After OSU tied the match a 5-5, Kentucky earned the final two points of the tiebreaker to win 7-5 and claim the match 9-8 (5).
The loss for the Wildcats was its first non-conference home loss since falling to Wake Forest in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009, breaking a streak of 25 consecutive home non-conference wins. Kentucky is 12-1 this season in non-conference home matches.
Kentucky has fell victim to several heartbreaking losses so far this season, falling to several highly ranked teams by less than two points. In UK’s seven losses this season, five have been decided by two points or less, including losses to then-No. 3 Tennessee 4-2, No. 3 Ohio State 4-3, then-No. 5 Texas 4-2, then-No. 16 Illinois 4-3 and then-No. 9 Georgia 4-3.
The Wildcats pushed the Buckeyes more than any other team this season with the exception the Ohio State’s two losses to No. 17 Texas A&M and No. 1 Virginia. Entering the match Tuesday, Ohio State was a dominating 155-12 since the beginning on the 2007 season in dual matches. The loss moves the Wildcats to 12-7 this season against teams ranked in the top 50 in the nation.
Kentucky bounced back in game two of the doubleheader, taking down in-state rival Morehead State 5-1. UK received singles wins from junior Matt Davis and freshman Grant Roberts, Alejandro Gomez, Maks Gold and Ryuji Hirooka.
UK will be in action again this weekend when it host No. 75 Arkansas on Friday at 3 p.m. ET and No. 30 LSU on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Live scores and a live blog for the match will be available at UKathletics.com.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, visit UKathletics.com or follow “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.
Agate
No. 3 Ohio State 4, No. 12 Kentucky 3
Hillary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center – Lexington, Ky.
Singles
#1 – No. 7 Eric Quigley (UK) def. No. 3 Blas Rola (OSU) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4
#2 – No. 14 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. No. 51 Alex Musialek (UK) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
#3 – No. 41 Matt Allare (OSU) def. Brad Cox (UK) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (10-8)
#4 – No. 98 Balazs Novak (OSU) def. No. 104 Anthony Rossi (UK) 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
#5 – No. 100 Alberto Gonzalez (UK) def. No 53 Dennis McCarthy (OSU) 7-6, 6-3
#6 – Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Tom Jomby (UK) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
#1 – No. 64 Eric Quigley/Brad Cox (UK) def. No. 13 Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt (OSU) 8-4
#2 – Chase Buchanan/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. No. 51 Tom Jomby/Alberto Gonzalez (UK) 8-3
#3 – Anthony Rossi/Alex Musaielk (UK) def. Blaz Rola/Balazs Novak (OSU) 9-8 (5)
Order of Finish
Singles – 6,3,4,5,1,2*
Doubles – 1,2,3*
