Lexington, Ky. – The No. 29 Kentucky men?s tennis team extended its season-best winning streak to six matches with a come from behind 4-3 victory over LSU Friday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center. Senior Alex Hume clinched the Cats’ comeback by extending his career-high winning streak to 12 matches.
The victory over LSU, ranked as high as No. 10 on Jan. 31, upped Kentucky’s record to 10-3. Kentucky also remains a perfect 3-0 in Southeastern Conference competition to begin the season.
The match with the Tigers got off to a rough start with LSU sweeping all three doubles matches.
?LSU may have the best doubles team in the country so we weren?t upset by losing,? head coach Dennis Emery said. ?We were upset with the way we lost our matches.?
With the doubles point belonging to LSU, the Cats fell behind 3-1 to begin singles action with sophomore Marcus Sundh recording UK?s lone victory. The Stockholm, Sweden, native registered his sixth straight win over the Tigers? Paul White 6-1, 6-1.
Kentucky began its comeback with a 6-4, 6-3, victory by No. 121 Nate Emge over LSU?s Mark Growcott. The win marked the 15th of the year for the senior from Evansville, Ind.
Fellow senior Carey Rubin tied the match at three with a 6-3, 6-3, sweep over LSU?s Danny Bryan. The victory was the second of the season for Rubin over Bryan. The two met in January at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Capping off the Cats? comeback was No. 41 Hume. Playing at the No. 2 spot, Hume swept the Tigers? Colt Gaston 7-6, 6-4. With the win, the native of Alexandria, Va., took the team lead in victories with 24 and extended his career-best winning streak to 12.
The win over a conference favorite was extremely gratifying for Emery and his young squad.
?I think some people felt our talent level was down this year but they didn’t consider the heart that this team plays with,? Emery said. ?Our seniors were awesome today. All three had straight set wins over big time players.?
The Cats will return to action looking to continue their winning ways against Arkansas on Sunday. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EST and a recap will be available following the match?s conclusion on ukathletics.com.
UK def. LSU 4-3
Doubles
1. Skupski/Growcott (LSU) def. Hume/Emge (UK) – 8-4
2. Bryan/Gaston (LSU) def. Sundh/Johnstone (UK) ? 8-1
3. White/Cluskey (LSU) def. Agostinelli/Hodge (UK) ? 8-2
Singles
1. Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Agostinelli (UK) ? 6-3, 6-3
2. Alex Hume (UK) def. Colt Gaston (LSU) ? 7-6, 6-4
3. Nate Emge (UK) def. Mark Growcott (LSU) ? 6-4, 6-3
4. Carey Rubin (UK) def. Danny Bryan (LSU) ? 6-3, 6-3
5. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Greg Johnstone (UK) ? 6-4, 6-3
6. Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Paul White (LSU) ? 6-1, 6-1
