March 17, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Behind two singles wins each from junior Eric Quigley and senior Brad Cox, the No. 14 University of Kentucky men’s tennis team improved its home record to 10-2 this season by sweeping a doubleheader with No. 21 Notre Dame and Butler at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Thursday.
Kentucky (15-5) is now 9-5 this season against top-50 ranked teams, including a 4-2 mark at home. The Wildcats have been unbeatable at home in non-conference play the past two seasons, earning a 23-0 record, including a 10-0 mark this season with wins against No. 21 Notre Dame, No. 22 Wake Forest, No. 38 Miami (Fla.) and No. 42 Boise State.
UK dominated the afternoon match with Notre Dame, taking the doubles point and winning five of the six singles matches en route to a 6-1 victory. In doubles, the Wildcats received wins at courts one and two to claim the doubles point for the sixth consecutive match. Kentucky is now 9-2 this season when it wins the doubles point.
“The Notre Dame win was a good win for us,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “Notre Dame is the third highest ranked team that we have beat this year. Anytime that you come off such an emotional weekend like we had last weekend against Tennessee and Georgia, you worry about a let down. I thought that our guys did a good job of taking control of the match early and set the tone with our doubles play.”
The Wildcats received wins from both of their ranked doubles tandems at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. The doubles scoring started when No. 48 Quigley and Cox took down Niall Fitzgerald and Spencer Talmadge 8-6. UK then clinched the doubles point at No. 2 doubles when No. 41 Alberto Gonzalez and Tom Jomby defeated Daniel Stahl and Stephen Havens 8-4. Frenchmen Alex Musialek and Anthony Rossi fell at No. 3 doubles to Tyler Davis and Greg Andrews 8-4.
In singles, Kentucky got wins from five Wildcats to clinch the match. Gonzalez started the singles scoring with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Fitzgerald, while Rossi gave UK a 3-0 lead with a dominating 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 5 singles over David Anderson. UK clinched the match at No. 1 singles when Quigley took down Havens 6-4, 7-5. With the match clinched, the Wildcats would get two more singles victories when Cox took down Andrews 6-4, 6-4 and Jomby defeated Blas Moros 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (1).
UK continued its domination in the nightcap with Butler, posting a convincing 6-0 win over the Bulldogs. Both teams agreed to play singles first in the match with Kentucky sweeping all six matches for the win.
“Butler is a very good team this year and are the favorites to win the Horizon league, so this was also a good win for us,” Emery said. “These matches are very important for our players to gain some momentum and expereince in pressure situations so when they are called on later in the season in Southeastern Conference matches they have some experience.”
Freshman Maks Gold began the match with a straight-sets win over David DiCarlo 6-1, 6-1, while fellow freshman Ryuji Hirooka secured Kentucky’s second point with a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles over David Dolins. Cox and Quigley also won singles matches with Cox defeating Zach Ervin 6-2, 6-2, while Quigley took down Brandon Bayliss 6-1, 6-2.
Freshmen Alejandro Gomez and Grant Roberts concluded the UK scoring with Gomez posting a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles over Lenz Theodor and Roberts a 6-7, 7-5, 1-0 (6) win over Chris Herron at No. 2 singles.
Kentucky will be in action again Saturday when it takes on No. 37 Alabama at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex at 1 p.m. ET. Live stats for the match will be available at UKathletics.com.
No. 14 Kentucky 6, No. 21 Notre Dame 1
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
March 17, 2011
Singles:
#1 – No. 4 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Stephen Havens (ND) 6-4, 7-5
#2 – Daniel Stahl (ND) def. No. 47 Alex Musialek (UK) 6-3, 6-4
#3 – Brad Cox (UK) def. Greg Andrews (ND) 6-4, 6-4
#4 – No. 117 Alberto Gonzalez (UK) def. Niall Fitzgerald (ND) 6-2, 6-1
#5 – No. 77 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. David Anderson (ND) 6-3, 6-0
#6 – Tom Jomby (UK) def. Blas Moros (ND) 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (1)
Doubles:
#1 – No. 48 Eric Quigley/Brad Cox (UK) def. Niall Fitzgerald/Spencer Talmadge (ND) 8-6
#2 – No. 41 Tom Jomby/Alberto Gonzalez (UK) def. Daniel Stahl/Stephen Havens (ND) 8-4
#3 – Tyler Davis/Greg Andrews (ND) def. Alex Musialek/Anthony Rossi (UK) 8-4
Order of Finish:
Singles: 4, 5, 1*, 3, 2, 6
Doubles: 1, 2*, 3
No. 14 Kentucky 6, Butler 0
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
March 17, 2011
Singles:
#1 – No. 4 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Brandon Bayliss (Butler) 6-1, 6-2
#2 – Grant Roberts (UK) def. Chris Herron (Butler) 6-7 (3), 7-5, 1-0 (6)
#3 – Brad Cox (UK) def. Zach Ervin (Butler) 6-2, 6-2
#4 – Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Lenz Theodor (Butler) 6-0, 6-4
#5 – Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. David Dolins (Butler) 6-3, 6-0
#6 – Maks Gold (UK) def. David DiCarlo (Butler) 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish:
Singles: 6, 5, 3, 1*, 4, 2
