May 9, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. –
After capturing the doubles point for an early 1-0 advantage, the No. 11 Kentucky men’s tennis team could not hold onto the lead as No. 18 Wake Forest took four out of five singles matches for the 4-2 upset win in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats (18-11, 6-5 SEC) conclude their season after the school’s 20th NCAA appearance. UK followed a similar path as that of the 2005 Wildcat team by sweeping the Horizon League Champions (Butler) 4-0 before falling to an Atlantic Coast Conference team in the second round (Florida State) 4-2.
With the victory, Wake Forest (22-9, 8-3 ACC) advances to play in the “sweet 16” at the NCAA Team Championships in College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M University May 14-19.
During Championship Week beginning May 20 UK senior Bruno Agostinelli and sophomore Brad Cox, ranked 22nd in the country, will play in the NCAA Doubles Championships while No. 6 Agostinelli will be seeded in the NCAA Singles Championships at College Station.
With overcast skies early Saturday, the teams began doubles action. UK sophomore Alberto Gonzalez and freshman Alex Musialek wasted no time in their match on court three, blanking Wake Forest’s David Hopkins and Jonathan Wolff 8-0. On doubles court one, the No. 6 team of Steven Forman and Cory Parr from Wake Forest defeated Agostinelli and Cox 8-3 to knot the matches at 1-1.
On court two, Demon Deacons Iain Atkinson and Carlos Salmon earned an early break of UK’s Graeme Dyce and Eric Quigley for a 2-0 lead. Then the Wildcats won three straight to take over the lead at 3-2. The pairs traded the next six games giving UK a 6-5 lead. The Wildcats earned a crucial break at the end of the match for the 8-5 win and gave UK the early 1-0 advantage.
Wake Forest began its comeback on singles courts one and two.
On court two, Forman held off Cox 7-5 in the first set, before taking the second 6-3 for the Demon Deacons’ first team point.
It was a battle of top ten players on court one with No. 10 Parr taking on No. 6 Agostinelli. Parr used an early break in set one en route to a 6-3 win. In the second, Parr was able to capture another service break to jump out to an early lead and then held off Agostinelli for the 6-4 win to put Wake Forest up 2-1.
The only other two-set match was on court six. Wake Forest’s Jason Morgenstern battled through a long first set against Gonzalez before emerging with a 7-5 victory. In the second, Morgenstern continued the momentum to take the match 6-3 and increase the Demon Deacon lead to 3-1.
No. 115 Quigley rolled to a 6-3 first set win over Wolff on court three. The Demon Deacons’ Wolff found his game in the second taking the set 6-3 to force a third. With the score knotted at 3-3 in the deciding set, Quigley swept the final three games to give the Wildcats their second point of the afternoon.
On court five, Dyce took the first set over Atkinson 6-4. The Demon Deacon bounced back in the second with a 6-3 win. In the deciding set, Atkinson earned an early break and held on for the 6-4 win, clinching the team match point for Wake Forest.
Earlier, UK’s Alex Musialek dug deep and saved the Cats from elimination by winning a second-set tiebreak to keep the final three matches alive on courts 3-5. Musialek’s opponent Hopkins took the first set 6-3. In the third, Musialek led 3-2 when the match was called.
“I would have thought winning the doubles would give us a really good shot to win the match,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “They just got on us early in singles by winning four of six first sets. They did a really good job at No.1 singles. That match clearly hurt us. (Parr) played really aggressive like he had nothing to lose. It’s a very big disappointment for us. We felt like we were a solid sweet 16 team if not an elite eight team, but the fact of the matter is we didn’t deserve to go.”
Wake Forest head coach Jeff Zinn commented on his team’s comeback after the Wildcats went up early in doubles, “Coming into the match, (doubles) was an area that we thought we were going to win. When we lost the point, the guys stayed really positive in our team meeting after doubles. I think the match turned after the first set results from singles came in.”
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May 9, 2009
Lexington, Ky. (Boone Tennis Complex)
NCAA Second Round
Wake Forest 4, (11) Kentucky 2
Singles
1. #10 Cory Parr (WF) def. #6
Bruno Agostinelli (UK) 6-3, 6-4
2. Steven Forman (WF) def. Brad Cox (UK) 7-5, 6-3
3. #115 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Jonathan Wolff (WF) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4. Alex Musialek (UK) led David Hopkins (WF) 3-6, 7-6(3), 3-2, unfinished
5. Iain Atkinson (WF) def. Graeme Dyce (UK) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Jason Morgenstern (WF) def. Alberto Gonzalez (UK) 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 6, 3, 5*
Doubles
1. #6 Steven Forman / Cory Parr (WF) def. #22 Bruno Agostinelli / Brad Cox (UK) 8-3
2. Graeme Dyce / Eric Quigley (UK) def. Iain Atkinson / Carlos Salmon (WF) 8-5
3. Alberto Gonzalez / Alex Musialek (UK) def. David Hopkins / Jonathan Wolff (WF) 8-0
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
