March 30, 2003

The 12th-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team fell on the short end of a 4-2 decision to 20th-ranked LSU Sunday in Baton Rouge, La. Sophomore Jesse Witten regained his winning touch at No. 1 singles, but it was not enough to overcome the Tigers.

LSU opened up the scoring with two doubles victories to tally the doubles point. Brandon Nicholson and Peter Richman teamed up for an 8-5 defeat of UK’s Evan Austin and Alex Hume. The 13th-ranked tandem of Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley clinched the doubles point for the Tigers by knocking off UK’s Karim Benmansour and Matt Emery by an 8-4 count.

In singles competition, Sebastian Rutka put the Tigers up 2-0 with a two-set victory over Matt Emery. UK would answer at No. 6 as freshman Alex Hume tallied his fourth victory in SEC play with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over LSU’s Nicholson. Soon after, however, LSU would put away the Wildcats with victories at numbers five and three, respectively, to seal the victory. UK managed to end the match on a positive note as Witten defeated Jason Hazley at No. 1, 6-3, 7-6(4) to end the scoring.

The loss ends the Cats’ four-match win streak and drops Kentucky to 15-8 overall and 5-3 in the SEC. The Cats will return to more familiar surroundings next weekend when they play host to Alabama Friday, April 4 and Auburn on Sunday, April 6.

AGATE:

Doubles1.No. 13 Bryan Fisher/Jason Hazley (LSU) def. Karim Benmansour/Matt Emery (UK) 8-42.Cory Ross/Sebastian Rutka (LSU) vs. Rahim Esmail/Jesse Witten (UK) Suspended3.Brandon Nicholson/Peter Richman (LSU) def. Evan Austin/Alex Hume (UK) 8-5

Singles1. No. 13 Jesse Witten (UK) def. Jason Hazley (LSU)   6-3, 7-6 (4)2. Bryan Fisher (LSU) vs. Evan Austin (UK)   Suspended3. No. 38 Peter Richman (LSU) def. No. 65 Karim Benmansour (UK)   6-2, 7-54. Sebastian Rutka (LSU) def. Matt Emery (UK)   6-3, 6-15. Cory Ross (LSU) def. No. 113 Rahim Esmail (UK)   7-5, 6-46. Alex Hume (UK) def. Brandon Nicholson (LSU)   6-3, 6-0