Cats await quarterfinal matches

Kentucky juniors Evan Austin and Tigran Martirosyan and sophomore Nate Emge found their way to Friday’s quarterfinals of the Southern California Intercollegiates with two victories apiece.

Austin defeated San Francisco’s Jorgen Arnesen by a 7-6, 6-1 count before eliminating Ryusuke Kashiwabara of UC-Irvine in the round of 16, 6-4, 7-5. He’ll face UCLA’s Chris Lam in the quarterfinals. Martirosyan posted a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Pepperdine’s Kevin Borzenski, and a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Zoran Korac of UC-Irvine. Martirosyan meets top-seeded Tobias Clemens of UCLA in the quarterfinals. Emge advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Loyola Marymount’s Mike Wojnarowicz and a 6-4, 6-3 win over fifth-seeded Alberto Francis of UCLA. He’ll meet fourth-seeded Daniel Langre of USC in the quarterfinals.

Junior Jesse Witten lost his first-round match Thursday at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. Witten dropped a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 decision to Robert Searle of Rice. Witten will begin consolation play Friday against Illinois’ Michael Calkins.