March 12, 2003

The UK men’s tennis team defeated Florida Gulf Coast University by a 5-2 count Wednesday in Naples, Fla. The match was the first of two for the Cats in the Sunshine State this week.

Naples native Jesse Witten won his third consecutive match for Kentucky (10-5) with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 defeat of FGCU’s Richard Stempnowski. UK’s Evan Austin, who grew up with Witten in Naples, also enjoyed his return to familiar surroundings, taking out Nestor Nunez, 6-4, 6-1.

Kentucky will now head to Gainesville, Fla. for a Friday evening battle with the second-ranked Florida Gators.

AGATE:

Doubles
1. Evan Austin/Karim Benmansour (UK) def. Evan Pinther/Wolfgang Pinther (FGCU) – 8-3
2. No. 22 Rahim Esmail/Jesse Witten (UK) def. Nestor Nunez/James Moysey (FGCU) – 8-6
3. Franco Mata/Richard Stempnowski (FGCU) def. Elliott Datlow/Tim Morgan (UK) – 8-4

Singles
1. No. 11 Jesse Witten (UK) def. Richard Stempnowski (FGCU) – 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. Evan Austin (UK) def. Nestor Nunez (FGCU) – 6-4, 6-1
3. No. 70 Karim Benmansour (UK) def. Evan Pinther (FGCU) – 6-2, 6-2
4. No. 102 Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Franco Mata (FGCU) – 6-1, 6-3
5. Wolfgang Pinther (FGCU) def. Tim Morgan (UK) – 5-7, 6-3, 10-5
6. James Moysey (FGCU) def. Elliott Datlow (UK) – 6-3, 6-1