The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team improved its record with two wins on Friday, April 13th, at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center. The Wildcats knocked off Morehead State in the day’s first match, 5-1, before holding Eastern Kentucky scoreless in the evenings 6-0 win.

Kentucky (12-13, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) first took down MSU with a 5-1 win in the afternoon match. Due to the doubleheader, the teams elected to play singles first and Kentucky clinched the match with wins at No. 2, 3, 5 and 6.

Freshman Rahim Esmail got UK rolling with a straight set win over Aki Gido, while junior Johan Grunditz continued his hot play with a victory over Lahiru Jayasuriya at No. 3. Freshman Matt Emery notched his No. 2 win over Santiago Sahagun, as sophomore Todd Scheck took out Greg Dawkins on the last court. Kentucky’s last victory came at No. 4, as freshman Karim Benmansour knocked off Eduardo Richelle, 6-3, 6-2.

Junior Reven Stephens suffered the Cats’ only loss of the day as MSU’s Ben Schmid won with a first set tiebreak victory and a 6-4 tally in the second set. Against Eastern, the Cats looked poised, grabbing all six singles victories in straight sets. Sheck looked tough, shutting out EKU’s Brian Stephenson at No. 5.

“Our guys really played hard today and got some great experience,” Coach Dennis Emery said. “Today helped to prepare us for a tough season closer on Sunday against Arkansas and the SEC Championships next week.”

Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, April 15, as they play host to SEC-foe Arkansas in the final regular season match. It’s Senior Day for UK’s Edo Bawono, the team’s lone senior.

AGATE

Kentucky, 5 - Morehead State, 1 Singles No. 1 Ben Schmid (MSU) def. Reven Stephens (UK) 7-6, 6-4 No. 2 Matt Emery (UK) def. Santiago Sahagun (MSU) 6-4, 6-1 No. 3 Johan Grunditz (UK) def. Lahiru Jayasuriya (MSU) 6-2, 6-0 No. 4 Karim Benmansour (UK) def. Eduardo Richelle (MSU) 6-3, 6-2 No. 5 Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Aki Gido (MSU) 6-1, 6-2 No. 6 Todd Scheck (UK) def. Greg Dawkins (MSU) 6-4, 6-2 Kentucky, 6 - Eastern Kentucky, 0 Singles No. 1 Matt Emery (UK) def. Brad Herrera (EKU) 6-4, 6-2 No. 2 Rahim Esmail (UK) def. John Forrister (EKU) 6-1, 6-0 No. 3 Reven Stephens (UK) def. Alvin Cheng (EKU) 6-3, 6-0 No. 4 Karim Benmansour (UK) def. Luke Recker (EKU) 6-2, 6-4 No. 5 Todd Scheck (UK) def. Brian Stephenson (EKU) 6-0, 6-0 No. 6 Elliot Datlow (UK) def. Lee Lester (EKU) 6-2, 6-3