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LEXINGTON, Ky. ? No. 17 Kentucky mounted a formidable singles rally but top-ranked Illinois once again displayed the mettle of an NCAA Champion, holding off the Cats by a 4-3 count Wednesday evening at UK?s Boone Tennis Complex. The Cats fall to 15-7 while Illinois (19-0) extends its NCAA-record win streak to 51 matches.
Illinois captured the doubles point with victories in all three matches. Ryler DeHeart and G.D. Jones scored an 8-2 win at No. 3 over Kentucky?s Nate Emge and Tigran Martirosyan, and the Illini?s Michael Calkins and Chris Martin clinched the point at No. 2 with an 8-6 win over Nate Emge and Tigran Martirosyan. The featured doubles match paired Illinois? second-ranked duo of Phil Stolt and Brian Wilson against Kentucky?s 14th-ranked Rahim Esmail and Jesse Witten. Each pair held serve until Illinois broke Kentucky to grab a 7-5 lead. Esmail and Witten rebounded to tie the match at seven before Stolt and Wilson took the next two games to win the match.
The No.1 singles position pitted Kentucky?s eighth-ranked Witten against Illinois? second-ranked Wilson. Witten seized control from the outset, blanking Wilson in the first set. The two-time All-American Witten let up only minimally in the second set, putting away Wilson by a 6-2 count. Witten improved to 18-2 in dual-match play and has won 14 of his last 15 matches. Witten now has defeated each of the ITA?s top three players, Ohio State?s Jeremy Wurtzman, Baylor?s Benedikt Dorsch and Illinois? Wilson, in the past year.
Shortly after Witten dispatched Wilson, Kentucky?s Esmail gave Kentucky the lead on the strength of a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4 over Illinois? DeHeart. The Illini rebounded at No. 6 when G.D. Jones defeated UK?s Jason Mallaiah in straight sets to even the tally at two. Just one minute later, Illinois regained the lead, as Stolt set down UK?s Martirosyan in straight sets. The match?s outcome rested in third sets at the three and five singles positions. Kentucky?s Hume fell behind but forced a final set at No. 5, and Illinois? Calkins did the same at the No. 3 slot. Calkins clinched the Illlini victory over UK?s Austin with a 6-2 final set. Hume lost a 5-1 lead before defeating Illinois? Pramod Dabir in a tiebreaker for the final 4-3 margin.
UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart presented UK Coach Dennis Emery with a plaque prior to the match commemorating Emery?s 400th Kentucky victory earned last Wednesday against Wright State. Before the start of singles play, Court No. 4 at the Boone Tennis Complex was named after former UK tennis letter winner Emil Johnson in recognition of his support for the UK tennis program and his continued participation and excellence in the sport well into his 90s.
Kentucky returns to conference play this Saturday when No. 22 Vanderbilt comes to Lexington. The match is slated for 1 p.m. EDT at the Boone Tennis Complex.
No. 1 Illinois 4, No. 17 Kentucky 3
Doubles 1. No. 2 Stolt/Wilson (UI) def. No. 14 Esmail/Witten (UK) ? 9-7 2. No. 24 Calkins/Martin (UI) def. Austin/Hume (UK) ? 8-6 3. DeHeart/Jones (UI) def. Emge/Martirosyan (UK) ? 8-2
Singles 1. No. 8 Jesse Witten (UK) def. No. 2 Brian Wilson (UI) ? 6-0, 6-2 2. No. 30 Phil Stolt (UI) def. No. 103 Tigran Martirosyan (UK) ? 6-3, 6-4 3. No. 104 Michael Calkins (UI) def. Evan Austin (UK) ? 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2 4. Rahim Esmail (UK) def. No. 117 Ryler DeHeart (UI) ? 6-2, 6-4 5. Alex Hume (UK) def. Pramod Dabir (UI) ? 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) 6. G.D. Jones (UI) def. Jason Mallaiah (UK) ? 6-2, 6-3
