Hurrion Clinches Doubles, Singles in Cats’ 4-3 Win Over LSU
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Wildcats opened Southeastern Conference play at Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex with a 4-3 win over the No. 38 LSU Tigers on Sunday in their second outdoor match of the season.
Kentucky improves to 10-5 (1-1 SEC) after commencing league play on the road with a 6-1 loss to No. 13 Texas A&M last Friday. Junior Millen Hurrion led the Cats in their bounce-back effort, clinching the winning points in both doubles and singles play on Sunday.
“We showed toughness in a big moment,” said Hurrion. “It’s great to bounce back with a team win like this after a tough loss on the road.”
César Bourgois and Liam Draxl were the first to find success for Kentucky, beating Daniel Moreno and Joey Thomas 6-3 on the top doubles court. When LSU answered back in the third matchup, Hurrion and Gabriel Diallo came out on top of a tightly contested battle with their first ranked win as a duo, beating No. 59 Rafael Wagner and Ronald Hohmann 7-6(9).
Kento Yamada opened things up in singles play with a quick 6-3, 6-0 defeat of Thomas on court six. After Diallo fell 6-4, 6-4 to Wagner, Draxl, a freshman, ended LSU junior Malik Bhatnagar’s day with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in the No. 1 singles slot.
Kevin Huempfner fell 6-4, 6-3 to Tomas Descarrega next, bringing the overall score to 3-2 in favor of Kentucky with two three-set bouts yet to finish. Hurrion was able to provide Kentucky with the winning rebuttal in a rematch with Hohmann on court two, prevailing 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
The teams decided to finish out the final matchup, wherein Bourgois ultimately came up short in a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 decision to 99th-ranked Boris Kozlov.
Kentucky’s first win over LSU since 2018 came on the birthday of head coach and UK Hall of Famer Cedric Kauffmann.
“We wanted to give Coach a win on his birthday,” Hurrion said. “This gives us good momentum for next week’s away matches.”
Kentucky returns to action on the road versus No. 27 Alabama (10-4, 1-1 SEC) on Friday at 7 p.m. ET and Auburn (9-8, 0-2 SEC) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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, #38 LSU 3
Singles
1.Liam Draxl (UK) def. Malik Bhatnagar (LSU) 7-5, 6-4
2.Millen Hurrion (UK) def. Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
3.#99 Boris Kozlov (LSU) def. César Bourgois (UK) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4
4.Rafael Wagner (LSU) def. Gabriel Diallo (UK) 6-4, 6-4
5.Tomas Descarrega (LSU) def. Kevin Huempfner (UK) 6-4, 6-3
6.Kento Yamada (UK) def. Joey Thomas (LSU) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1.César Bourgois/Liam Draxl (UK) def. Daniel Moreno/Joey Thomas (LSU) 6-3
2.Millen Hurrion/Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. #59 Rafael Wagner/Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 7-6(9)
3.Boris Kozlov/Nick Watson (LSU) def. Alexandre LeBlanc/Ying-Ze Chen (UK) 7-6(3)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,4,1,5,2,3)
