May 8, 2003
The University of Kentucky men’s tennis program will play host to an NCAA men’s tennis regional this weekend at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on the UK campus. This Saturday, May 10, Ohio State will take on Arkansas at 9 a.m., and UK, the tournament’s 13 seed, will meet Hampton at 12 p.m. The winners of Saturday’s matches will meet Sunday at 1 p.m. in the regional final. Admission is $5 per day for people of all ages and $3 for students.
Kentucky was one of 16 schools selected as an NCAA regional host by way of its No. 13 Omni Hotels/ITA national ranking. UK is making its 10th-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its 13th appearance overall, all of which have occurred under the watch of Coach Dennis Emery, now in his 21st season with the Wildcats. The Cats are looking to build upon their strong 2002 NCAA Tournament showing. In the 2002 NCAA regional, Kentucky defeated Murray State and Vanderbilt in Lexington to advance to the round of 16 in College Station, Texas. The Cats knocked out Duke before losing to Tennessee in the quarterfinals.
UK is led by sophomore Jesse Witten, the 2002 NCAA men’s singles runner-up. Witten, who has already qualified for the 2003 NCAA men’s singles championship, enters the tournament with a No. 9 singles ranking. The Naples, Fla. native pairs with junior Rahim Esmail to form the nation’s 55th-ranked doubles pair. Karim Benmansour, the ITA’s 105th-ranked student-athlete, compiled a 14-9 dual-match record for the Cats. Freshman Alex Hume totaled 30 victories on the season and led Kentucky with seven conference wins, all at No. 6 singles.
Hampton earned an automatic bid to the field of 64 as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion. The Pirates are led by freshman Jose Carlos Pinto, Jr., a native Brazilian who posted an impressive 13-7 record at No. 1 singles. Hampton is coached by Dr. Robert Screen, now in his 33rd season at the school. Hampton earned NCAA Division I status in 1996 and the school played in its first NCAA Tournament in 1999.
Ohio State comes to Lexington with a 20-6 record and a No. 23 national ranking. The Buckeyes, coached by Ty Tucker, are led by 33rd-ranked junior Jeremy Wurtzman and 38th-ranked Vince Ng. Ohio State also features the nation’s 43rd-ranked doubles tandem in Conor Casey and Ross Wilson. The Buckeyes also came to Lexington for the NCAA regional a year ago, falling to Vanderbilt in the first round.
Arkansas, who fell on the short end of a 7-0 defeat to Kentucky in Fayetteville during the regular season, enters the NCAA field with a No. 36 national ranking and 11-14 overall record. Freshman Adrians Zguns leads the Hogs with a 24-9 overall record.
WLAP-AM Brings Call-In Show to UK
WLAP 630 AM in Lexington will conduct its nightly call-in show live from UK’s Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and again Friday evening at the same time. Host Jim Tirey will discuss the sports topics of the day, and several of the participating coaches in this weekend’s NCAA men’s and women’s tennis regionals, including UK men’s tennis coach Dennis Emery, are expected to join him to discuss collegiate tennis.
