Kentucky Sweeps Virginia Tech, Advances to NCAA Tournament Second Round
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Kentucky men’s tennis team earned a 4-0 win over Virginia Tech to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday morning at the Varsity Tennis Center in Columbus. UK will face either Ohio State or East Tennessee State on Saturday at noon.
“It was a really good first round for us,” head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “The boys played clean and executed their plan. They stepped up today like they don’t want the season to end. We will need the whole team to be like that tomorrow and I expect a battle in Columbus.”
The Wildcats improved to 15-11 this season, while VT will finish the season at 17-8.
Kentucky jumped out early with the doubles point and didn’t look back. The No. 13 duo of Gus Benson and Cesar Bourgois beat No. 27 Henrik Korsgaard and Alexandre Ribiero, 6-2 and Austin Hussey and Will Bushamuka earned a ranked win over No. 54 Carlo Donato and Mitch Harper, 6-4, to give UK a 1-0 advantage.
Kentucky jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Austin Hussey beat Freddy Mesmer, 7-5, 6-1 for his 11th win of the season and fifth on the sixth court.
UK took a 3-0 advantage when Trey Yates defeated Henrik Korsgaard, 6-2, 6-2. Yates improved 14-6 this season and is 10-3 at the No. 4 spot this year.
“We just need to carry the momentum from this match,” Yates said. “We should have a lot of confidence after beating a really good No. 3 seed (in the pod). We want to take that confidence into tomorrow.”
The Wildcats won the match when No. 50 Will Bushamuka breezed past Jason Kros, 6-3, 6-1. Bushamuka is now 11-7 this season, and earned his 10th win on the No. 2 court.
“We’ve been working all year for this,” Bushamuka said. “We did really well as a team today and we’re looking to do it again tomorrow. We thought about how we played at the SEC Tournament and how we can improve. We’ve been working really hard in the postseason and the training is paying off.”
Three matches were unfinished when Kentucky clinched the win. Ryo Matsumura was at 6-7 (3-7), 1-1, Enzo Wallart was at 5-7, 1-0 and Kento Yamada was at 3-6, 3-3.
Tennis Match Results
Virginia Tech vs Kentucky
May 11, 2018 at Columbus, Ohio
(OSU Varsity Tennis Courts)
#26 Kentucky 4, #35 Virginia Tech 0
Singles competition
1. #8 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) vs. #29 Mitch Harper (VT) 6-7 (3-7), 1-1, unfinished
2. #50 Will Bushamuka (UK) def. Jason Kros (VT) 6-3, 6-1
3. Enzo Wallart (UK) vs. Alexandre Ribeiro (VT) 5-7, 1-0, unfinished
4. Trey Yates (UK) def. Henrik Korsgaard (VT) 6-2, 6-2
5. Kento Yamada (UK) vs. Carlo Donato (VT) 3-6, 3-3, unfinished
6. Austin Hussey (UK) def. Freddy Mesmer (VT) 7-5, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #13 Gus Benson/Cesar Bourgois (UK) def. #27 Henrik Korsgaard/Alexandre Ribeiro (VT) 6-2
2. Austin Hussey/Will Bushamuka (UK) def. #54 Carlo Donato/Mitch Harper (VT) 6-4
3. Ryotaro Matsumura/Enzo Wallart (UK) vs. Jason Kros/Abraham Asaba (VT) 4-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Virginia Tech 17-8; National ranking #35
Kentucky 15-11; National ranking #26
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,4,2)
Official: Mark Anderson T-1:51
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter or Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team on Facebook.
