LEXINGTON, Ky.? The University of Kentucky men?s tennis team dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 29 Auburn in the opening round of the SEC Championships Thursday morning at the W.T ?Dub? Robinson Tennis Stadium.

The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead after earning the hotly contested doubles point. All three matches were close, but Auburn eventually prevailed with wins at No. 1 and No. 3.

The undefeated duo of senior Peter Bjork and junior Will Ward topped the Auburn duo of Pawal Dilaj and Terence Nugent for an 8-6 victory at No. 2. Sophomores Bruno Agostinelli and Kenny Hodge fell at No. 1 to open the doubles match. The Wildcats? win at No. 2 forced a deciding match at No. 3.

Junior Marcus Sundh and sophomore Shane Collins looked like they would seal the highly regarded doubles win for the Blue and White when they jumped out to a 7-4 lead. Auburn, however, had other ideas as they rattled off five unanswered points to take the set 9-7 and the doubles point.

Kentucky once again faced stiff competition with two Auburn players rated in the top 60 in the nation in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles slots. UK?s steady top of the line-up once again gave a good fight and kept the match interesting.

Auburn used straight-set victories at the bottom of the lineup to take the match and advance to the second round of the SEC Championships. At No. 4, Alexey Tsyrenove used a 6-2, 6-1 win over freshman Jorge Jorge to put the Tigers up 2-0.

Hodge and Collins then both fell in straight sets at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively with the deciding match point won at No. 6.

Agostinelli, Bjork and Sundh all dropped their first set matches to the Tigers and were each in the second set before their matches were called. Agostinelli was up 3-2 in the second set, with Bjork leading 1-0 in his second set.

Kentucky concludes the season with a 13-15 overall record. They now must wait and see if they qualify for their 13th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships.

#7 Auburn 4, #10 Kentucky 0
SEC Men?s Tennis Tournament
April 19, 2007 at Baton Rouge, La.

Singles competition:

1. #57 Alex Schweizer (AU) def. #83 Bruno Agostinelli (UK), 6-4, 2-3 (unfinished)
2. #38 Robert Lathouwers (AU) def. Peter Bjork (UK), 6-3, 0-1 (unfinished)
3. Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Marcus Sundh (UK), 6-4, 4-0 (unfinished)
4. Alexey Tsyrenove def. Jorge Jorge (UK), 6-2, 6-1
5. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Kenny Hodge (UK), 6-2, 6-0
6. Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. Shane Collins (UK), 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition:

1. #44 Robbert Lathouwers/Alex Schweizer (AU) def. Bruno Agostinelli/Kenny Hodge (UK), 8-5
2. #49 Peter Bjork/Will Ward (UK) def. Pawal Dilaj/Terence Nugent (AU), 8-6
3. Lukas Marsoun/Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) def. Shane Collins/Marcus Sundh (UK), 9-7

Match Notes:

Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (4, 5, 6)