LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Kentucky senior All-American Jesse Witten picked up his eighth conference victory, and a Wildcat newcomer scored his biggest victory yet, but it wasn?t enough, as No. 9 Georgia scored a 4-3 victory over No. 19 Kentucky Friday evening at UK?s Boone Tennis Complex.

Georgia (14-5, 6-3) opened the match by capturing the doubles point, but UK seniors Witten and Tigran Martirosyan further improved their chances of earning doubles All-America status by defeating Georgia?s third-ranked tandem of John Isner and Antonio Ruiz. The UK duo jumped to No. 12 in the doubles rankings released on Tuesday and have since defeated two top-10 doubles pairs.

Witten evened the tally at one by handily defeating UGA?s Ruiz at No. 1 singles to improve to 8-1 in conference play. Witten now has won 15 of his last 16 singles contests. Kentucky took a 2-1 lead when Martirosyan dispatched Georgia?s Strahinja Bobusic, 6-3, 6-3. The Dogs evened the tally at two when sophomore John Isner put away UK?s Alex Hume at No. 2 after Hume managed a late rally in the second set. Georgia?s Matic Omerzel fought off a comeback from UK?s Nate Emge to give UGA a 3-2 lead, and the Dogs? Colin Purcell clinched the match by defeating UK?s Matt Emery in a second-set tiebreaker.

Kentucky junior Carey Rubin, a first-semester transfer from Michigan, picked up his biggest victory as a Wildcat when he defeated Georgia?s 83rd-ranked Matias Ormaza at No. 6 singles by a 6-4, 6-1 count.

Kentucky (16-7, 5-4) wraps up its weekend Sunday with the SEC home finale against Tennessee. The match is set for 1 p.m. EDT at the Boone Tennis Complex.

No. 9 Georgia 4, No. 19 Kentucky 3

Doubles

1. No. 12 Martirosyan/Witten (UK) def. No. 3 Isner/Ruiz (UGA) ? 8-6
2. No. 47 Bobusic/Purcell (UGA) def. Emge/Hume (UK) ? 8-3
3. Gonzalez/Ormaza (UGA) def. Emery/Sundh (UK) ? 8-2

Singles

1. No. 4 Jesse Witten (UK) def. No. 68 Antonio Ruiz (UGA) ? 6-4, 6-2
2. No. 12 John Isner (UGA) def. Alex Hume (UK) ? 6-0, 7-5
3. No. 69 Matic Omerzel (UGA) def. Nate Emge (UK) ? 6-3, 7-5
4. Colin Purcell (UGA) def. Matt Emery (UK) ? 6-3, 7-6
5. Tigran Martirosyan (UK) def. Strahinja Bobusic (UGA) ? 6-3, 6-3
6. Carey Rubin (UK) def. No. 83 Matias Ormaza (UGA) ? 6-4, 6-1