Kentucky Men’s Tennis Takes Down LSU, 5-2

Baton Rouge, La. – The Kentucky men’s tennis team took down LSU, 5-2, on Friday night at the LSU Tennis Complex. After rain moved play inside, UK improved to 11-5 and 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play while the Tigers dropped to 2-9 and 1-2 in the league.

“I’m proud of the way all of our guys bounced back after a disappointing finish in the doubles,” assistant coach Matt Emery said. 

The duo of junior Gus Benson and junior Will Bushamuka took the first doubles match when they defeated Rafael Wagner and Nikola Smardzic, 6-1. Shortly after, LSU punched back when senior Beck Pennington and sophomore Enzo Wallart fell to Jordan Daigle and Justin Butsch, 6-3. The Tigers clinched the doubles point when Gabor Csonka and Julian Saborio defeated junior Trey Yates and sophomore Ryo Matsumura, 7-5 to earn a 1-0 lead.

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Play was delayed for 20 minutes and moved to the LSU indoor facility as a thunderstorm rolled through.

Pennington put Kentucky on the board and tied the match at 1-1 when he defeated Rafael Wagner, 6-2, 6-3 in the first singles match to finish. The Cats grabbed the lead when Jake Stefanik took down Agie Moreno 6-2, 6-2 in the battle in the No. 6 spot.

“I want to give a shoutout to Jake Stefanik,” Emery added. “He did a great job of putting his head down and took care of business. It’s never easy to come in and play in a bigh match when you haven’t played a match for a while. Him getting off the court with an east win gave our team a huge boost in the singles.”

LSU knotted it back up at 2-2 when Bushamuka fell to Daigle, 6-1, 1-6, 2-6.

Kentucky punched back when Yates was the next to finish. Yates won, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to give UK a 3-2 advantage. The Cats clinched the win when Wallart finished shortly after. Wallart earned a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Nikola Samardzic.

Even though the Cats had clinched the victory, Matsumura finished his match and earned a ranked win. He took down No. 43 Justin Butsch, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to give UK a final tally of 5-2.

Kentucky will head to Texas A&M to continue SEC play on Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m.

For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter or Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team on Facebook. 

 

1. Jordan Daigle (LSU) def. Will Bushamuka (UK) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2

2. Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) def. No. 43 Justin Butsch (LSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1

3. Beck Pennington (UK) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

4. Trey Yates (UK) def. Gabor Csonka (LSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

5. Enzo Wallart (UK) def. Nikola Samardzic (LSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2

6. Jake Stefanik (UK) def. Agie Moreno (LSU) 6-2, 6-2

1. Jordan Daigle/Justin Butsch (LSU) def. Beck Pennington/Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-3

2. Gabor Csonka/Julian Saborio (LSU) def. Ryotaro Matsumura/Trey Yates (UK) 7-5

3. Will Bushamuka/Gus Benson (UK) def. Rafael Wagner/Nikola Samardzic (LSU) 6-1

Official: Ritchie Weaver