UK senior Jesse Witten picked up his eighth win in his last nine matches, and fellow senior Tigran Martirosyan tallied the clinching point, as Kentucky (9-5, 1-2) collected a 5-2 win over No. 30 South Carolina (12-3, 2-1) Friday at UK?s Boone Indoor Tennis Center.

Kentucky set the tone early with a powerful doubles showing. Juniors Nate Emge and Alex Hume scored a commanding 8-1 win at the third doubles slot over Dmitry Babenko and Ben Atkinson before seniors Tigran Martirosyan and Jesse Witten added the clinching win at the first slot, defeating Pedro Rodrigues and Geraldo Knorr, 8-4.

Witten made short work of the reigning SEC Player of the Week, defeating the Gamecocks? 45th-ranked Tom Eklund in straight sets at No. 1 singles for a 2-0 Kentucky lead. Hume added his fifth win in six matches, defeating Jaime Cuellar, 6-2, 6-4, at the fourth slot for a 3-0 Wildcat lead. South Carolina?s Rodrigues rallied for a long three-set win over UK?s Emery, but Martirosyan thwarted any notion of a Gamecock comeback, defeating Babenko in straight sets at No. 5 singles.

Kentucky will look for its third-consecutive win Sunday when the Cats travel to Gainesville, Fla., to meet seventh-ranked Florida. The Gators are coached by former Wildcat Andy Jackson, a Frankfort, Ky., native who played for current UK head coach Dennis Emery in the 1980s.

No. 28 Kentucky 5, No. 30 South Carolina 2

Doubles
1. No. 19 Martirosyan/Witten (UK) def. Rodrigues/Knorr (USC) ? 8-4
2. Emery/Sundh (UK) vs. Eklund/Cuellar (USC) ? 5-6, susp.
3. Emge/Hume (UK) def. Bubenko/Atkinson (USC) ? 8-1

Singles
1. No. 6 Jesse Witten (UK) def. No. 45 Tom Eklund (USC) ? 6-2, 6-4
2. Pedro Rodrigues (USC) def. Matt Emery (UK) ? 4-6, 6-3, 6-5, def.
3. Nate Emge (UK) def. Geraldo Knorr (USC) ? 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
4. No. 94 Alex Hume (UK) def. Jaime Cuellar (USC) ? 6-2, 6-4
5. Tigran Martirosyan (UK) def. Dmitry Babenko (USC) ? 6-3, 6-4
6. Ben Atkinson (USC) def. Carey Rubin (UK) ? 6-2, 1-1, def.