Feb. 5, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team could not repeat its historic upset last season against Virginia, losing to the top-ranked Cavaliers 7-0 in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday.
Virginia, who boasts two top-10 ranked doubles teams and six top-105 ranked singles players, took control of the match from the beginning, winning the doubles point and all six singles matches.
“We knew coming in that it was going to take a near-perfect effort in order to beat them tonight,” said Dennis Emery, who is in his 29th season as the UK head man. “Virginia is really good and they are the No. 1 team in the country for a reason.”
The singles scoring for UVa started when No. 3 Alex Domijan defeated No. 39 Alex Musialek 6-4, 6-1, while No. 19 Jarmere Jenkins took down Anthony Rossi at No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-3. Virginia clinched the match at No. 1 singles when No. 27 Michael Shabaz posted a 6-2, 7-5 win over No. 2 Eric Quigley.
“Obviously, we had very few opportunities in singles tonight,” Emery said. “We won the first set in two matches and Eric Quigley went up a break in the second set. In the end, they were just too good.”
The Cavaliers continued the scoring with a win at No. 6 singles by No. 105 Justin Shane 6-4, 6-4 over UK freshman Tom Jomby, playing in the singles lineup for the first time in his collegiate career. UVa finished the match with singles wins at No. 5 and No. 3 singles. At No. 5 singles, No. 17 Drew Courtney took down No. 72 Alberto Gonzalez 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, while No. 10 Sanam Singh used a come-from-behind effort to beat UK senior Brad Cox 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Virginia (8-0) started the match by taking the doubles point with wins on all three courts. Play at No. 1 doubles was the first to end, with Virginia’s third-ranked duo of Courtney and Shabaz taking down Quigley and Cox 8-6. UVa clinched the doubles point at No. 3 doubles when Singh and Steven Eelkman Rooda handed Gonzalez and Jomby their first doubles lost of the season 9-7 at No. 3 doubles. The Cavaliers swept the doubles point by getting a win at No. 2 doubles when No. 10 Domijan and Jenkins defeated Musialek and Rossi 8-3.
“We had some chances tonight in doubles, but they were just too good,” Emery said. “They served really, really well in doubles and that is what pushed them to the doubles point.”
The win for Virginia extends their home winning streak to a school-record 82 matches. Last year, Kentucky defeated then-No. 2 Cavaliers 4-3 in Lexington, snapping Virginia’s 63-match regular-season winning streak.
“We need to shake this loss off because we have a very tough road coming up,” Emery said. “We have to go face a very good Illinois team on Friday and then turn around and face two good teams in Miami and Cleveland State on Sunday.”
Kentucky (6-1) returns to action Friday, traveling to No. 16 Illinois. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. ET. Live scores will be available at UKathletics.com. After the match with Illinois, UK will host a doubleheader Sunday with No. 38 Miami (Fla.) and Cleveland State with the Miami (Fla.) match starting the day at 1 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, visit UKathletics.com.
Agate
#1 Virginia 7, #12 Kentucky 0
Charlottesville, Va. – Attendance: 702
Doubles
1. #3 Courtney/Shabaz (UVa) def. Cox/Quigley (UK) 8-6
2. #10 Domijan/Jenkins (UVa) def. Musialek/Rossi (UK) 8-3
3. Singh/Rooda (UVa) def. Gonzalez/Jomby (UK) 9-7
Singles
1. #27 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. #2 Eric Quigley (UK) 6-2, 7-5
2. #3 Alex Domijan (UVa) def. #39 Alex Musialek (UK) 6-4, 6-1
3. #10 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. Brad Cox 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
4. #19 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) def. Anthony Rossi (UK) 6-2, 6-3
5. #17 Drew Courtney (UVa) def. #72 Alberto Gonzalez (UK) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
6. #105 Justin Shane (UVa) def. Tom Jomby (UK) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1,3,2
Singles: 2,4,1,6,5,3
