Kentucky rode the momentum created from a hard-earned doubles point to a 5-2 win over No. 43 Auburn Friday at UK?s Boone Indoor Tennis Center.
UK led off with a win at the first doubles slot, as seniors Tigran Martirosyan and Jesse Witten chalked up an 8-5 win over Auburn?s 10th-ranked tandem of Gabor Zoltan Pelva and Alex Schweizer. Auburn answered with an 8-5 win at the second slot from Tom George and Robbert Lathouwers. At the third slot, UK juniors Nate Emge and Alex Hume led 7-4, but Auburn?s Brett Hunter and Nick Lane rallied to take an 8-7 lead. Emge and Hume rebounded to tie the tally at eight, forcing a tiebreaker, where UK saved four game points to win by a 15-13 count.
Hume added to the Kentucky lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win over AU?s Lane to pick up his ninth-consecutive victory. Auburn cut the lead in half when Schweizer defeated UK?s Emery in straight sets. UK?s Emge stretched the Wildcat lead to 3-0 when he set aside Lathouwers by a 6-4, 7-5 count, and Witten clinched the Kentucky victory with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Pelva. Martirosyan added a straight-set win over Auburn?s George, and the Tigers? Hunter provided the final Auburn point by defeating UK?s Sundh in a third-set supertiebreaker.
Kentucky improves to 14-6 and 4-3 in the SEC, while Auburn falls to 9-6 and 1-6 in the conference. UK will go for a weekend sweep on Sunday when the Cats play host to Alabama. The match is set for 1 p.m. EDT. Live scoring will be available at ukathletics.com.
No. 18 Kentucky 5, No. 43 Auburn 2
Doubles
1. No. 21 Martirosyan/Witten (UK) def. No. 10 Pelva/Schweizer (AU) ? 8-5
2. George/Lathouwers (AU) def. Emery/Sundh (UK) ? 8-5
3. Emge/Hume (UK) def. Hunter/Lane (AU) ? 9-8 (13)
Singles
1. No. 4 Jesse Witten (UK) def. No. 70 Gabor Zoltan Pelva (AU) ? 7-6, 6-4
2. Alex Schweizer (AU) def. Matt Emery (UK) ? 6-3, 6-4
3. Nate Emge (UK) def. Robbert Lathouwers (AU) ? 6-4, 7-5
4. Alex Hume (UK) def. Nick Lane (AU) ? 6-2, 6-1
5. Tigran Martirosyan (UK) def. Tom George (AU) ? 6-2, 6-4
6. Brett Hunter (AU) def. Marcus Sundh (UK) ? 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (3)
