March 8, 2002
Lexington, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team continued its impressive play on Friday, March 8, with another Southeastern Conference win over the 11th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center on the UK campus. The Cats (9-3) scored a 5-2 victory over the Rebels (6-3) to keep pace in the highly-competitive SEC.
The Wildcats, who currently hold the highest ranking for a UK team since 1997, won the doubles point and never looked back to take the match. The duo of senior Gustav Pousette and sophomore Matt Emery picked up a crucial doubles win to clinch the opening point for UK. Freshman Jesse Witten and sophomore Rahim Esmail also picked up a clutch doubles victory on court three with a win over Catalin Gard and Claes Lindholm.
In singles action, the Cats picked up four wins to clinch the match and the 5-2 victory. Freshman Jesse Witten and sophomore Rahim Esmail both notched wins over ranked opponents for UK. Witten defeated 33rd-ranked Alex Hartman 6-4, 7-6, while Esmail rolled 119th-ranked Claes Lindholm 6-3, 6-4.
“This was a great team effort tonight and it was a big conference win for us,” Coach Dennis Emery said. “Wins are hard to come by in the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss is a good team and we really capitalized on the things that went right for us to come out of here with a win.”
UK will be back in action on Sunday, March 11, when the Cats face a pair of regional rivals at the Boone Tennis Center. Tennessee Tech will battle the Cats at 2 p.m. and Wright State at 7 p.m.
AGATE:SinglesNo. 1#5 Jesse Witten (UK) def. #33 Alex Hartman (UM), 6-4, 7-6No. 2Kristofer Stahlberg (UM) def. #39 Karim Benmansour, 7-6, 7-6NO. 3#77 Evan Austin def. Catalin Gard (UM), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2No. 4Martin Selin (UM) def. Matt Emery (UK), 6-3, 6-4No. 5#81 Gustav Pousette (UK) def. Paul Ciorascu (UM), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6No. 6Rahim Esmail (UK) def. #119 Claes Lindholm (UM), 6-3, 6-4DoublesNo. 1Selin/Stahlberg (UM) def. #22 Austin/Benmansour (UK), 8-4No. 2Pousette/Emery (UK) def. Chucri/Hartman (UM), 8-4No. 3Witten/Esmail (UK) def. Gard/Lindholm (UM), 8-4
