No. 15 Kentucky Hits Road for Alabama, Auburn
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Following a nearly 2,000-mile roundtrip to and from its Southeastern Conference road opener early in the week, No. 15 Kentucky (11-2, 1-1 SEC) is set to hit the road once more for stops in Tuscaloosa and Auburn, Alabama, visiting the Alabama Crimson Tide (8-4, 0-2 SEC) on Friday at 7 p.m. ET and the Auburn Tigers (3-6, 0-2 SEC) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Kentucky has completed the regular-season sweep of the neighboring opponents in each of the last three years.
The Wildcats enter Friday coming off the season’s first true road loss, falling 6-1 at No. 10 Texas A&M last Tuesday. Fifth-year senior César Bourgois earned his first ranked singles win with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 33 Carlos Aguilar on court three.
After a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 setback to the Aggies’ No. 4 Valentin Vacherot, Kentucky sophomore Liam Draxl heads to Alabama Tennis Stadium looking to bounce back from his first singles loss of the season. The 45th-ranked 19-year-old has wins over the nation’s top-, sixth- and 71st-ranked competitors.
Alabama enters Friday with doubleheader wins over Samford, North Alabama and Tennessee Tech—as well as same-day wins over Tulane and Chattanooga—under its belt. The Tide lost to Florida (6-1) and South Carolina (5-2) in back-to-back road matches to open conference play.
Auburn has beaten Samford, Old Dominion and Florida State, also falling at South Carolina and Florida by the same scores as Bama.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and Facebook, @kentuckymenstennis on Instagram, and on the web at UKAthletics.com.
