April 10, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. —
The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team fell dropped a 4-1 decision to the No. 17 Florida Gators on Friday afternoon at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center on a picture-perfect spring day in the Bluegrass.
Kentucky (11-15, 2-9 SEC) got off to a solid start to the afternoon, taking the first point of the match with doubles courts wins on courts two and three to take the early 1-0 lead, before the Gators (12-7, 7-4 SEC) were able to secure four straight-sets singles wins to clinch out the match and their seventh Southeastern Conference win of the season.
In doubles, UK was aided by a great effort on courts two and three to clinch the 1-0 overall lead. On court two, sophomore Jerry Lopez teamed with fellow sophomore Nils Ellefsen to give UK the 6-4 win and the 1-0 lead in the doubles competition.
On court three, UK’s duo of freshman William Bushamuka and Trey Yates teamed up to give the Wildcats a 7-5 win on court three and clinched the 1-0 overall lead in the match for UK.
In singles, the Wildcats were able to collect two first-set victories, as William Bushamuka (6-0) on court three and Nils Ellefsen (7-6) on court five got out to good starts in the singles competition. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, those singles matches were unable to finish, as Florida got straight-sets singles wins on courts one, two, four and six to clinch the match, and a 4-1 win over the Wildcats.
UK will conclude the regular season with a 1 p.m. ET showdown with the Auburn Tigers on Sunday. UK will then travel to the SEC Tournament in College Station, Texas, next week for the 2015 championships.
No. 17 Florida 4, Kentucky 1
Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center — Lexington, Ky.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Doubles: (Order of finish: 2, 3*)
1- Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin (UF) led Beck Pennington/Kevin Lai (UK) 6-5 (DNF)
2- Jerry Lopez/Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Gordon Watson/Diego Hidalgo (UF) 6-4
3- William Bushamuka/Trey Yates (UK) def. Joshua Wardell/Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) 7-5
Singles: (Order of finish: 2, 6, 4, 1*)
1- Diego Hidalgo (UF) def. Beck Pennington (UK) 7-6 (4), 6-3
2- Elliott Orkin (UF) def. Jerry Lopez (UK) 6-4, 6-2
3- William Bushamuka vs. Gordon Watson (UF) 6-0, 4-6, 2-2
4- Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) def. Trey Yates (UK) 7-6 (6), 6-1
5- Nils Ellefsen (UK) led Maxx Lipman (UF) 7-6, 5-6 (DNF)
6- Joshua Wardell (UF) def. Kevin Lai (UK) 6-3, 6-2
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter or “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.
