Cats to Close Regular Season with Pair of Top-25 SEC Foes
LEXINGTON, Ky. – With next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament just over the horizon, No. 43 Kentucky (13-12, 4-6 SEC) is set to conclude its 2019 regular season at Boone Tennis Center with a string of matches that includes two nationally top-25-ranked league opponents.
The Wildcats host No. 17 Georgia (11-8, 6-4 SEC) on Friday at 5 p.m. ET and No. 15 Tennessee (16-6, 6-4 SEC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. after the weekend kicks off with a non-conference tilt versus Dayton (15-6, 5-2 Atlantic 10 Conference) on Friday at 10:30 a.m.
Sunday’s match will mark UK’s annual senior day ceremony, honoring top singles players No. 51 Ryo Matsumura and Enzo Wallart.
“This is an important weekend for us but a special one for our seniors, Ryo and Enzo,” said assistant coach Matthew Gordon. “We hope we can end the season at home on a good note and leave everything out there.”
Kentucky enters the weekend tied for sixth place in the conference standings with a chance to move up the ladder, while Georgia and Tennessee are knotted in fourth place. The top four teams will get a double bye in next week’s SEC Tournament.
The Cats are coming off a 4-0 non-conference win over Nicholls last Saturday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, breaking up a two-match SEC skid. Matsumura has emerged victorious in his last four completed singles matchups, including versus then-No. 56 Carlos Aguilar of No. 8 Texas A&M on April 4 and versus No. 89 Cameron Klinger of No. 30 Vanderbilt on March 29. Matsumura has earned six wins over nationally ranked opponents this season, while Wallart has collected three.
Kentucky closed its 2018 regular season on the road against Tennessee and Georgia, dropping each contest 4-3. The Cats swept the Volunteers 4-0 the last time the teams met in Lexington in March 2017, two months after defeating Dayton 6-1 in the Flyers’ last visit to Boone Tennis Center.
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