(Mar. 17, 2001) — The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team wrapped up its Spring Break road swing with a loss to No. 14 South Alabama, 6-1, in Mobile, Ala., on Saturday, March 17.

The Cats (7-8, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), currently ranked 40th in the country, were unable to overcome the Jaguars (16-2) in doubles action as the duo of Vincent Baudat and Julien Raynal topped UK’s combo of Gustav Pousette and Karim Benmansour at No. 1 by a tally of 8-1. The 37th-ranked tandem of Christian Thall and Konstantine Zinchanka of USA notched the win at No. 2 over the Wildcat team of Edo Bawono and Reven Stephens to secure the doubles point.

No. 85 Bawono continued his hot singles play, knocking off USA’s 75th-ranked Christian Thall in straight sets to notchKentucky’s only win. No. 33 Raynal took out Matt Emery in straight sets, while the Jaguars also notched straight-set wins at No. 3,No. 4 and No. 5. Freshman Rahim Esmail took USA’s Zlatko Stupavsky to three sets, but fell 6-2 in the final set to give SouthAlabama the nod.

The match wraps a three-date road swing for the Cats that started last Tuesday, March 13 at No. 1 UCLA with a 7-0 loss.Kentucky then traveled to No. 16 LSU on Friday, March 16 and fell in a heartbreaker, 4-3. UK’s tough schedule has forced them tomeet a ranked opponent in every match since Feb. 11, a date with Boston College in Boston, Mass. The Cats have faced only fiveopponents all season not ranked among the nation’s top-50 teams.

Bawono has been the bright spot for the Cats this season, notching a 23-7 record thus far in his senior campaign, including a9-5 mark this spring. He opened fall action with a 12-match win streak.

The Cats will take to the road again on Friday, March 23 when they travel to Columbia, S.C., to take on No. 39 SouthCarolina. UK will return to the friendly confines of the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on UK’s campus on Sunday, March 25 totake on No. 29 Florida at 2 p.m.

Singles1. #85 Edo Bawano (UK) def. #75 Christian Thall (USA)           7-5, 6-02. #33 Julien Raynal (USA) def. Matt Emery (UK)                 6-1, 6-13. Tomas Chatar (USA) def. Karim Benmansour (UK)                6-4, 7-54. Vince Baudat (USA) def. Johan Grunditz (UK)          6-4, 6-35. #69 Kosta Zinchanka (USA) def. Gustav Pousette (UK)  6-3, 6-36. Zlatko Stupavsky (USA) def. Rahim Esmail (UK)                6-4, 3-6, 6-2Doubles1. Baudat/Raynal (USA) def. Pousette/Benmansour (UK)            8-12. #37 Thall/Zinchanka (USA) def. Bawono/Reven Stephens (UK)    8-43. Chatar/Evan Fowler (USA) vs. Emery/Grunditz (UK)             DNF