No. 18 Kentucky completed a doubles sweep and dominated singles action on its way to a convincing 6-1 win over Alabama (7-12, 0-8) on a breezy Sunday afternoon at UK?s Boone Tennis Complex. The Cats earned their sixth-straight win and improved to 15-6 and 5-3 in the conference.

UK juniors Nate Emge and Alex Hume started things off with an easy 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles over Alabama?s Jordie Kindervater and Sammy Struyf. At the first doubles slot, UK?s Tigran Martirosyan and Jesse Witten trailed 7-6 to the Tide?s Luigi D?Agord and Eric Molnar, but the Kentucky senior duo rallied to win the final three games to clinch the doubles point. Kentucky?s Matt Emery and Marcus Sundh completed the sweep with an 8-5 win over Joseph Jung and R. J. Murray.

Martirosyan quickly extended the Wildcat lead to 2-0 by shutting out Alabama?s Billy Mertz in a 45-minute span. Alabama?s Jung provided the lone Crimson Tide point by defeating UK?s Emery, 6-1, 6-2. Kentucky?s Witten picked up his seventh-consecutive victory at No. 1 singles, defeating Alabama?s D?Agord by a 6-2, 6-2 count. Witten improves to 7-1 in SEC play and has won 13 of his last 14 singles matches.

UK?s Sundh provided the clinching point against the Tide?s Struyf with a 6-2, 6-1 win. Kentucky?s Hume picked up his ninth-consecutive win and improved to 7-1 in SEC play with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Javier Bes. Hume has captured all 18 sets during his streak. Finally, UK?s Emge capped the Kentucky victory with a 6-4, 7-6 (0) win over Alabama?s Molnar.

Kentucky will step out of conference play on Wednesday before resuming SEC action next weekend at home against Georgia and Tennessee. UK will travel to Champaign, Ill. to meet No. 2 Illinois on Wednesday. The Illini dealt Kentucky a 4-2 defeat earlier this season at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago.

No. 18 Kentucky 6, No. 69 Alabama 1

Doubles
1. No. 21 Martirosyan/Witten (UK) def. D?Agord/Molnar (UA) ? 9-7
2. Emery/Sundh (UK) def. Jung/Murray (UA) ? 8-5
3. Emge/Hume (UK) def. Kindervater/Struyf (UA) ? 8-1

Singles

1. No. 4 Jesse Witten (UK) def. No. 99 Luigi D?Agord (UA) ? 6-2, 6-2
2. Joseph Jung (UA) def. Matt Emery (UK) ? 6-1, 6-2
3. Nate Emge (UK) def. Eric Molnar (UA) ? 6-4, 7-6 (0)
4. Alex Hume (UK) def. Javier Bes (UA) ? 6-2, 6-4
5. Tigran Martirosyan (UK) def. Billy Mertz (UA) ? 6-0, 6-0
6. Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Sammy Struyf (UA) ? 6-2, 6-1