Jan. 29, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team lost 4-0 to the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday afternoon, as OSU was able to pick up wins on courts one and three in the doubles competition and then get singles wins on courts four, five and six to close out the match.
In doubles, Kentucky’s top pair of Beck Pennington and Kevin Lai lost its second straight match on court one, 6-3 to No. 4 Kevin Metka/Ralf Steinbach to give the Buckeyes the leg up in doubles. On court two, No. 27 Chris Hunter/Hunter Callahan were in a dogfight with Jerry Lopez and William Bushamuka of Kentucky, who were looking for their second win over a ranked opponent in as many weeks. But, on court three, Nils Ellfesen and Trey Yates lost a tiebreak 7-5 to lose the match 7-6 (5) and give OSU the doubles point before match No. 2 in doubles could finish.
In singles, OSU took a 2-0 lead when Kentucky’s Kevin Lai lost 6-0, 6-0 on court four to Ohio State’s Hunter Callahan.
It then became 3-0 when UK lost on court six, 6-1, 6-2 as Nils Ellefsen, who was playing his first singles match of the season, fell on court six.
The Buckeyes would clinch the win on court four when Trey Yates, a freshman, fell 6-1, 6-4 to give the Buckeyes a 4-0 win.
Kentucky will play No. 8 Illinois on Feb. 6 in Champaign-Urbana. First serve for doubles is at 6 p.m. ET.
Agate
No. 5 Ohio State 4, No. 27 Kentucky 0
Columbus, Ohio
Doubles: (Order of finish: 1, 3*)
1- No. 4 Kevin Metka/Ralf Steinbach (OSU) def. Beck Pennington/Kevin Lai (UK) 6-3
2- No. 27 Chris Diaz/Hunter Callahan (OSU) vs. Jerry Lopez/Will Bushamuka (UK) 5-6, unfinished
3- Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Nils Ellefsen/Trey Yates (UK) 7-6 (7-5)
Singles: (Order of finish: 5, 6, 4*)
1- No. 89 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) vs. No. 92 Beck Pennington (UK) 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
2- No. 21 Chris Diaz (OSU) vs. Jerry Lopez (UK) 3-6, 6-1, unfinished
3- No. 66 Ralf Steinbach (OSU) vs. Will Bushamuka (UK) 7-6 (10-8), 2-2, unfinished
4- Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Trey Yates (UK) 6-1, 6-4
5- Hunter Callahan (OSU) def. Kevin Lai (UK) 6-0, 6-0
6- Kevin Metka (OSU) def. Nils Ellefsen (UK) 6-1, 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.
