TULSA, Okla. ? University of Kentucky men?s tennis player Bruno Agostinelli fell in his first round match of the NCAA Singles Championships Wednesday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. Ohio State?s Steven Moneke got the better of the Wildcat 6-3, 6-4 but Agostinelli will have another chance at the Buckeye as they meet in the first round of the Doubles Championships with their partners Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Moneke used a late break of Agostinelli?s in the eighth game of the first set to go up 5-3. The Buckeye held in the next game to serve out the first set 6-3. In the second set, both players held serve through the first four games to knot the score at 2-2. In game five, Moneke gained the only break of the second set to go up 3-2. That break turned out to be the difference as Agostinelli held his serve but could not break the Buckeye?s final three service games for a 6-4 result.
No. 20 Agostinelli finishes the season with a 22-14 record that includes 14 victories against ranked opponents. Moneke advances to the second round where he will face No. 9-16 seed Ivan Bjelica of Mississippi State.
Agostinelli and freshman partner Brad Cox will face Moneke and his Ohio State teammate Bryan Koniecko in the first round of the Doubles Championship scheduled for a time to be announced later.
Ohio State?s Moneke and Koniecko are ranked 10th nationally. The Buckeyes are making their first appearance in the NCAA Doubles Championships. The two juniors are 32-4 overall this season. The Buckeye duo?s 20-match win streak was snapped earlier this week against the No. 9 pair of Kellen Damico and Ed Corrie of Texas in the NCAA Team quarterfinals.
Should the Cats advance in the doubles bracket, the pair would face the No. 5-8 seeded Wake Forest tandem of Cory Parr and Steve Forman or the Texas Tech duo of Christian Rojman and Bojan Szumanski. Agostinelli and Cox are in the lower half of the doubles draw with a No. 3 team from Miami and a No. 2 USC squad.
Agostinelli and Cox rank 22nd in the nation in the latest doubles rankings. As a tandem, the Cats stand at 16-11 overall including an 8-4 ledger against the SEC.
Cox is just the second freshman in UK history to earn an NCAA individual championship bid. Moreover, he is the first Wildcat rookie to participate in the NCAA Doubles Championships. Former Kentucky All-American Jesse Witten advanced to the Singles Championships in his first year.
The UK pair faced NCAA doubles team selections nine times this season posting a 3-6 record. All but one of those opponents is currently ranked in the top-20. The tandem ended their regular-season with a win over No. 5-8 seed and fourth-ranked Hensel and Smith of Tennessee on the road in Knoxville.
Last fall at the Wilson/ITA Southeast Regional, the two Wildcats took the court for the first time together against the seeded duo of Schnugg and Hunt from Georgia and surprised the Bulldogs to earn their first win. Later in the quarterfinals, the Cats served up a 9-8 upset of the then No. 5 pairing from Alabama of Thibadeau and Buikema to advance to the semifinals. The NCAA?s third-seeded team from Miami of Carl Sundberg and Vallverdu, a potential NCAA quarterfinal opponent, stopped Agostinelli and Cox?s incredible run in the Regional semifinals.
Live updates and video of the 2008 NCAA Doubles Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., will be available at www.tulsahurricane.com or the UK men?s tennis schedule page.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for a recap of each Wildcat match from the NCAA Doubles Championships.
