March 12, 2015

LEXINGTON, Ky. –
The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team dropped a 4-1 decision to the University of South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday afternoon, as the Wildcats were led in singles by junior Beck Pennington, who collected a 6-4, 6-3 win on court one in the singles competition.

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 7-10 overall on the 2015 season and now sit at 0-4 in the Southeastern Conference.

In doubles, the Wildcats played the Gamecocks tight, as USC was able to get wins on courts one and two to clinch the point, after they were forced to go the distance on court one. Pennington was joined by Kevin Lai, who are now up to No. 58 in the ITA national rankings, and lost 7-6 in the tiebreaker on court one. On court two, No. 47 Thomas Mayronne/Harrison O’Keefe knocked off Jerry Lopez and Nils Ellefsen on court two to clinch the 1-0 lead for the Gamecocks.

In singles, it was quickly a 0-2 hole for the Wildcats, as Lai fell in straight sets on court five, 6-2, 6-2 to Harrison O’Keefe to give the Gamecocks the 2-0 lead early in the match.

Kentucky would then pull a point back, as Pennington won 6-4, 6-3 on court one over the Gamecocks’ top player, Andrew Adams, to push the score to 2-1 South Carolina.

The Wildcats were able to force third sets on court four and two, but South Carolina came up with two more points before UK could grab any momentum, and knocked off the Wildcats, 4-1.

Kentucky is next in action on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET against No. 3 Georgia at the Boone Tennis Center in Lexington.

Doubles: (Order of Finish: 2, 1)

1. No. 44 Kyle Koch/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. No. 58 Beck Pennington/Kevin Lai (UK) 7-6 (1)

2. No. 47 Thomas Mayronne/ Harrison O’Keefe (SC) def. Jerry Lopez/Nils Ellefson (UK) 6-3

3. Andrew Adams/Andrew Schafer (SC) led William Bushamuka/Trey Yates (UK) 6-5 (DNF)

Singles: (Order of Finish: 5, 1, 6, 2*)

1. No. 92 Beck Pennington (UK) def. Andrew Adams (SC) 6-4, 6-3

2. Kyle Koch (SC) def. Jerry Lopez (UK) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2

3. Thiago Pinheiro (SC) tied No. 125 William Bushamuka (UK) 6-2, 1-6, 5-5 (DNF)

4. No. 113 Andrew Schafer (SC) led Trey Yates (UK) 7-6 (6), 5-6 (DNF)

5. Harrison O’Keefe (SC) def. Kevin Lai (UK) 6-2, 6-2

6. Thomas Mayronne (SC) def. Jake Stefanik (UK) 7-6 (5), 6-3

For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter or “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.