Kentucky Beats Memphis, Kennesaw State in Home Doubleheader

LEXINGTON, Ky. – In its final tune-up before Southeastern Conference play begins next week, Kentucky defeated both Memphis (4-1) and Kennesaw State (7-0) on Friday at Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex, improving its record to 9-4 on the season.
 
“Today was a good day,” said head coach Cedric Kauffmann. “Everyone competed like we have talked about. Every point matters at Kentucky. It started a week ago on the practice courts. They worked really hard and were locked in all week. If we train and compete like this at a more consistent level, this team is going to be very special.”
 
The Wildcats resumed action after an 11-day hiatus that followed the spring’s first stretch of back-to-back losses. One glaring difference between Friday and the team’s last outing was the presence of freshman Liam Draxl, who returned to singles play for the first time since Jan. 28 after a prolonged battle with sickness.
 
“It was nice to have Liam back in the lineup,” Kauffmann said. “It brings another level to our team. The SEC season starts now and we will have to be resilient against a very tough schedule for this young team.”
 
After dropping the doubles point to Memphis in the day’s opening match, Draxl returned to singles play ready to fight. He secured the first point of the day for the Wildcats by defeating the Tigers’ Oscar Cutting 6-0, 6-2. Following Draxl’s win, a flurry of points ensued for UK.
 
Senior César Bourgois defeated his opponent James Story 6-3, 6-2, while freshman Gabriel Diallo did the same against David Stevenson in 6-1, 6-4 fashion. To clinch the match, junior Millen Hurrion defeated Jan Pallares 6-3, 6-4.
 
Following the momentum of the first match, the Cats went into the second contest of the day primed for another victory. UK secured the doubles point when the pair of Bourgois and sophomore Ying-Ze Chen overcame Gaston Muhammad and Harvey Maughan 6-3 and Draxl and junior Kento Yamada defeated their opponents, Kevin Patel and Drew Lahey, by the same score.
 
In singles, Diallo defeated the Owls’ Sebastian Osorio 6-1, 6-2 first. Bourgois won his match against Sergio Ingles 6-1, 6-4, while sophomore Kevin Huempfner clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kevin Patel.
 
Kentucky and Kennesaw State decided to finish out the remaining matches, playing one set to eight points on courts five and six. The added time was enough for Hurrion to complete his match against Bryan Triana in a hard-fought tiebreaker in the top singles slot, resulting in a 6-2, 7-6(3) win. On court five, Yamada defeated Muhammad 8-4, while senior Parth Aggarwal defeated Harvey Conway 8-5 on court six.
 
Kentucky is set to travel to College Station, Texas, to begin SEC play against Texas A&M on Friday, February 28. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and Facebook, @kentuckymenstennis on Instagram, and follow along on the web at UKAthletics.com.
 
Kentucky 4, Memphis 1
 
Singles
1. Millen Hurrion (UK) def. Jan Pallares (MEM) 6-3, 6-4
2. Liam Draxl (UK) def. Oscar Cutting (MEM) 6-0, 6-2
3. César Bourgois (UK) def. James Story (MEM) 6-3, 6-2
4. Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. David Stevenson (MEM) 6-1, 6-4
5. Kevin Huempfner (UK) vs. Jeremy Taylor (MEM) 0-0, unfinished
6. Patrick Sydow (MEM) vs. Kento Yamada (UK) no result
 
Doubles
1. David Stevenson/Jan Pallares (MEM) def. Gabriel Diallo/Millen Hurrion (UK) 6-1
2. César Bourgois/Ying-Ze Chen (UK) def. Oscar Cutting/James Story (MEM) 6-3
3. Matt Story/Marshall Sullivan (MEM) def. Liam Draxl/Kento Yamada (UK) 6-4 

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,3,4,1)

Kentucky 7, Kennesaw State 0
 
Singles
1. Millen Hurrion (UK) def. Bryan Triana (KSU) 6-2, 7-6(3)
2. César Bourgois (UK) def. Sergio Ingles (KSU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. Sebastian Osorio (KSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Kevin Huempfner (UK) def. Kevin Patel (KSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Kento Yamada (UK) def. Gaston Muhammad (KSU) 8-4
6. Parth Aggarwal (UK) def. Harvey Conway (KSU) 8-5
 
Doubles
1. Millen Hurrion/Gabriel Diallo (UK) vs. Bryan Triana/Sergio Ingles (KSU) 4-4, unfinished
2. César Bourgois/Ying-Ze Chen (UK) def. Gaston Muhammad/Harvey Maughan (KSU) 6-3
3. Liam Draxl/Kento Yamada (UK) def. Kevin Patel/Drew Lahey (KSU) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (3,2,4,1,5,6)