The Kentucky men?s tennis program serves as an NCAA Regional host this weekend by way of its No. 11 national ranking and 18-9 record against one of the nation?s most difficult schedules. Kentucky, the tournament?s No. 12 seed, opens the regional Saturday against Horizon League Champion Butler at 11 a.m. EDT. In the second half of the doubleheader, No. 16 TCU will take on No. 67 East Tennessee State, the Southern Conference Champion, at 2 p.m. EDT. The winners of the two matches will meet Sunday at 1 p.m. in the regional final. All matches will be held at UK?s Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, rain or shine. Live scoring for each regional match will be available at www.ukathletics.com. Admission is $5 per day for the general public and $3 for students.
Kentucky will be making its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance, each under the watchful eye of Coach Dennis Emery. Emery and the Cats hold a 9-13 record in NCAA tournament play and have advanced to the Elite Eight on three occasions, most recently in 2002. At the 2003 NCAA Regional in Lexington, Kentucky blanked Hampton before Ohio State hung a season-ending 4-3 loss on the Cats.
Kentucky met Butler earlier this season and dealt the Bulldogs a 7-0 defeat but did not face TCU or East Tennessee State. TCU features senior Alex Menichini, the ITA?s 48th-ranked singles player. The Horned Frogs? Fabrizio Sestini and Rafael Abreu comprise the ITA?s 35th-ranked doubles tandem.
The strong season turned in by the Kentucky men has once again enabled them to host an NCAA regional. The Cats qualified for the ITA National Team Indoors and remained in the top 25 throughout the dual-match season. Kentucky defeated No. 13 LSU twice and nearly ended Illinois? NCAA-record win streak last month.
Junior Jesse Witten produced a 32-9 overall singles record and has vaulted to a No. 6 national ranking. He earned his third-consecutive first-team All-SEC honor and is on track to become Kentucky?s third three-time singles All-American along with former UK greats Cedric Kauffmann and current UK associate head coach Greg Van Emburgh. Witten and doubles partner Rahim Esmail enter NCAA play with a No. 14 national ranking and will participate in the NCAA doubles championships later this month. Witten also has qualified for NCAA singles competition.
A pair of wins this weekend would send Kentucky to Tulsa, Okla., next week for the NCAA Sweet 16.
WLAP Bringing Radio Show to Boone Tennis Complex
630 WLAP-AM in Lexington is set to bring its nightly sports talk show to UK?s Boone Tennis Complex. Host Jim Tirey will conduct his radio show from 6-8 p.m. at the Boone Tennis Stadium. Among his guests is UK Coach Dennis Emery.
