Jan. 15, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team opened the 2015 season with a doubleheader sweep of Dayton (7-0) and Eastern Kentucky (8-0) on Thursday afternoon at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center in Lexington.
In the season opener, the Wildcats did not drop a set in the entire match, downing the Dayton Flyers 7-0. Kentucky won the doubles point in 27 minutes, taking the matches on courts one and two to clinch the 1-0 lead. Junior Beck Pennington teamed with junior Kevin Lai to win on court one 6-2, while freshman William Bushamuka coupled with sophomore Jerry Lopez to secure a 6-3 lead on court two to clinch the doubles point.
In singles action, the Wildcats did not drop a set, as Pennington on court one, Lopez on court two and Bushmauka on court three clinched the win for the Wildcats, as Bushamuka picked up his first collegiate win on Thursday afternoon.
In the nightcap, The Wildcats started the victory by claiming the doubles point over the Colonels. Kentucky junior Charles Minch and freshman Trey Yates started the winning in doubles with a 6-4 victory on court three over EKU’s Alberto Tintore and Ramon van Flymen. UK then clinched the point in doubles play on court two when sophomore Jerry Lopez and freshman William Bushamuka took down EKU’s Diego Asis and Sebastian Mueller 6-4. Kentucky’s No. 1 doubles team of juniors Beck Pennington and Kevin Lai finished off the sweep with a tiebreaking victory over Alex Alvaro and Juanjo de la Llera. The two teams went back-and-forth in the match before ending tied at 6-6. After the tiebreaker started 1-1, Pennington and Lai rattled off six straight points to win the tiebreaker 7-1 and complete the doubles sweep.
In singles play, Lopez, playing No. 1 singles, started the scoring for Kentucky by taking down Alvaro 6-3, 6-1 to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead in the overall match. Minutes later, Bushamuka pushed the lead to 3-0 overall with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over van Flymen on court 4. That set the stage for Minc to clinch the overall victory on court three with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over de la Llera.
After the overall match was completed, play continued in Nos. 2, 5, 6 and 7 singles with UK winning all three matches. Pennington was the first to claim a win at court 2, defeating Saidi in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to give Kentucky a 5-0 lead. The Wildcats increased their lead to 6-0 when Yates posted a dominating 6-2, 6-0 victory over Mueller at No. 5 singles before freshman Jake Stefanik took down EKU’s Tintore 6-2, 6-2 and UK freshman Gus Benson defeated EKU’s Jonas Stropus 6-3, 6-2.
Kentucky will return to action on Saturday when it plays host to Notre Dame at 1 p.m. ET at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center. The match will be the season opener for the Fighting Irish, who enter the spring schedule ranked 14th nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Admission to Saturday’s match is free of charge and live stats will be available online at UKathletics.com.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter or “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.
No. 18 Kentucky 7, Dayton 0
Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center – Lexington, Ky.
Jan. 15, 2015
Doubles: (Order of finish: 1, 2*)
1- Beck Pennington/Kevin Lai (UK) def. Josh Maylon/Bernardo Sanson (UD) 6-2
2- Jerry Lopez/William Bushamuka (UK) def. Zach Berry/Carston Fisher (UD) 6-3
3- Jake Stefanik/Charles Minc (UK) def. Simon Jayaram/Aidan Koross (UD) 6-3
Singles: (Order of finish: 3, 1, 2*, 4, 5, 6)
1- Beck Pennington (UK) def. Aidan Koross (UD) 6-4, 6-2
2- Jerry Lopez (UK) def. Bernardo Sanson (UD) 6-0, 6-2
3- William Bushamuka (UK) def. Josh Maylon (UD)
4- Charles Minc (UK) def. Carsten Fisher (UD) 6-3, 7-5
5- Kevin Lai (UK) def. Simon Jayaram (UD) 6-4, 6-1
6- Trey Yates (UK) def. Zach Berry (UD) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0
No. 18 Kentucky 8, EKU 0
Hilary J. Boone Indoor Tennis Center – Lexington, Ky.
Thursday, Jan. 15
Singles: (Order of finish: 3, 2*, 1)
1 – Jerry Lopez (UK) def. Alex Alvaro (EKU) 6-3, 6-1
2 – Beck Pennington (UK) def. Daridge Saidi (EKU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
3 – Charles Minc (UK) def. Juanjo de la Llera (EKU) 6-2, 6-3
4 – William Bushamuka (UK) def. Ramon van Flymen (EKU) 6-4, 6-2
5 – Trey Yates (UK) def. Sebastian Mueller (EKU) 6-2, 6-0
6 – Jake Stefanik (UK) def. Alberto Tintore (EKU) 6-2, 6-2
7 – Gus Benson (UK) def. Jonas Stropus (EKU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles: (Order of finish: 1, 4, 3*, 2, 5, 6, 7)
1 – Beck Pennington/Kevin Lai (UK) def. Alex Alvaro/Juanjo de la Llera (EKU) 7-6 (7-1)
2 – Jerry Lopez/William Bushamuka (UK) def. Diego Asis/Sebastian Mueller (EKU) 6-4
3 – Charles Minc/Trey Yates (UK) def. Alberto Tintore/Ramon van Flymen (EKU) 6-4
