Lexington, Ky. ? The No. 29 Kentucky men?s tennis team moved to a perfect 4-0 in Southeastern Conference action for the first time since 1992 when they won the SEC Championship by upending No. 20 Arkansas 4-3 Sunday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center. Senior Alex Hume extended his career-long winning streak to 13 matches as he won the pivotal match to tie the contest at 3-3.
The Cats (11-3) went up early 1-0 by taking the doubles point. Junior Greg Johnstone and sophomore Marcus Sundh took down the 25th-ranked Arkansas duo of Adrians Zguns and Blake Strode 8-6, while freshmen Bruno Agostinelli and Kenny Hodge also defeated the Hogs? Austin King and Colin Mascall 8-6 to clinch the point.
?The doubles point was a big key for us today,? head coach Dennis Emery said. ?We played great at the No. 2 and 3 spots.?
In singles action, Arkansas won the first three matches to take a 3-1 lead before the Cats started their comeback. Kentucky found itself in a similar situation down 3-1 on Friday against LSU before coming back to win 4-3.
Senior Carey Rubin notched the first singles victory for UK when he won in three sets over Arkansas? No. 101 Blake Strode. Rubin won the first set 6-3 before dropping the second 4-6. In the third set, Rubin got the win with a 6-4 score. The victory was Rubin?s fifth in his last six matches.
Once again in a tight match, UK turned to Hume. The Alexandria, Va., native lost his first set 4-6 to the Hogs? No. 82 Rohan Gajjar and went to the tiebreaker in the second set before coming away with a 7-6 win. In the third set, Hume took control winning 6-2. The victory pushed Hume?s winning streak to 13 matches and set the stage for Sundh to clinch the match for UK.
With the pressure on, Sundh came up huge with a sweep over Arkansas? Michael Jung 6-4, 6-2. The win moved the Stockholm, Sweden, native?s winning streak to a season-high seven matches.
?This was a great college match,? Emery said. ?The SEC is tough in that the margin of error is so small. Last year (at Arkansas), Jesse Witten saved three match points for us to win 4-3 and this year (Alex) Hume saved what were basically match points in the second set to help us win this match.?
?To come from a 3-1 deficit again speaks to the mental toughness of our team. Arkansas is a great team who upset No. 1 Virginia last month. They (UA) have three great seniors who provide them great leadership.?
The Cats will be off this week before returning to action on Fri., Mar. 24, at home against Mississippi State.
No. 29 UK def. No. 20 Arkansas 4-3
Doubles
1. Emge/Hume (UK) vs. Gajjar/Roberts (UA) stopped 7-6
2. Johnstone/Sundh (UK) def. Strode/Zguns (UA) – 8-6
3. Hodge/Agostinelli (UK) def. King/Mascall (UA) – 8-6
Singles
1. Adrian Zguns (UA) def. Bruno Agostinelli (UK) – 6-4, 6-2
2. Alex Hume (UK) def. Rohan Gajjar (UA) – 4-6, 7-6, 6-2
3. Matt Roberts (UA) def. Nate Emge (UK) – 6-2, 7-5
4. Carey Rubin (UK) def. Blake Strode (UA) – 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
5. Colin Mascall (UA) def. Greg Johnstone (UK) – 6-4, 6-3
6. Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Michael Jung (UA) – 6-4, 6-2
