March 18, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. — After an impressive doubleheader sweep of No. 21 Notre Dame and Butler on Thursday, the University of Kentucky men’s tennis team will now turn its focus back to Southeastern Conference play when its host No. 37 Alabama at 1 p.m. ET Saturday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Kentucky (15-5, 2-2 SEC) was brilliant Thursday in both singles and doubles against Notre Dame and Butler, winning the lone doubles point and 11 of the 12 singles matches that were played. The Wildcats received two singles wins each from junior Eric Quigley and senior Brad Cox. UK also increased its record when winning the doubles point to 9-2 this season, while earning its 22nd and 23rd consecutive non-conference home victories.
The Wildcats started SEC play with two impressive wins over SEC West foes then-No. 31 Ole Miss and then-No. 43 Mississippi State. Last weekend, Kentucky dropped its SEC home opener to then-No. 3 Tennessee 4-2, while also falling in a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to then-No. 9 Georgia on Sunday.
All told, Kentucky has faced a total of 14 top-50 ranked teams this season with a 9-5 record in those matches, including a 4-2 record against top-50 teams at home. The Wildcats are 10-2 overall at the Boone this season, improving its home record the past two seasons to 38-8.
Quigley has led the Wildcats this season, earning 12-4 record in dual matches. The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., is currently ranked fourth in the nation and has been ranked in the top five in the nation in singles since the rankings first came out in January.
Three other Wildcats are ranked in singles, including No. 47 Alex Musialek, No. 77 Anthony Rossi and No. 117 Alberto Gonzalez. Kentucky also has two ranked doubles tandems in freshman Tom Jomby and Gonzalez coming in at No. 41 and Quigley and Cox at No. 48.
Last year, Kentucky shined in a 5-2 win at Alabama, winning the doubles point and receiving singles wins from Musialek, Cox, Gonzalez and Rossi. The victory for the Wildcats was UK head coach Dennis Emery’s 500th career victory as the Kentucky head man.
Alabama (8-5, 1-3 SEC) is fresh off a dominating 7-0 win over South Carolina last weekend to earn its first SEC win of the year. The Tide have been paced this season by Jarryd Botha and Daniil Proskura, who are ranked 111th and 115th in singles, respectively.
Live scores 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.
