May 25, 2002

Jesse Witten, a freshman on the University of Kentucky men’s tennis team, continued down the winning path with a victory in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championships on Saturday, May 25 in College Station, Texas. Witten, the highest nationally ranked freshman at No. 6, defeated San Diego State’s Oliver Maiberger while continuing his bid for a championship title.

Witten cruised to a 6-3 first-set victory before Maiberger strongly fought back. At an even 3-3 in the second-set, Maiberger, who upset sixth-seeded Andy Leber of Texas-Arlington in the round of 16 yesterday, won the game on deuce to break 4-3 and continue to a 6-3 set victory. Entering third-set action, Witten rallied physically and mentally to dominate the set with a 6-1 win.

Witten, seeded fourth in the tournament, will face either Ryan Haviland of Stanford or Brandon Wagner of Georgia. In the fall tournament schedule, Witten faced Wagner in the third round of the Southern Collegiate Championships but dropped the match in three sets.

Witten is the only freshman still battling for the singles title and is the first Wildcat since Carlos Drada in 2000 to advance into the final four. Drada played in the championship before dropping the match, mainly from suffering back spasms.

The times for semifinal action have yet to be determined but can be followed by live scoring at www.aggieathletics.com. The championship match will take place on Monday, May 27 at 4 p.m. central time.