ATHENS, Ga. ? Second-seeded co-SEC Champion Florida (18-5, 10-1) took the doubles point and survived a solid Kentucky singles showing to eliminate the Cats (20-9, 6-5) by a 4-2 count Friday in the quarterfinals of the SEC Men?s Tennis Tournament Friday at Georgia?s Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Kentucky seniors Jesse Witten and Tigran Martirosyan secured another victory over a top-10 opponent, but the Cats failed to capture the doubles point. Witten and Martirosyan defeated Florida?s 10th-ranked tandem of Hamid Mirzadeh and Greg Ouellette by an 8-6 count at the No. 1 doubles slot, but the Gators claimed the remaining two matches to earn the doubles point.
UK?s Witten evened the tally at one by scoring his second victory of the season over Florida?s Mirzadeh by a 6-4, 6-2 count at No. 1 singles. UK junior Alex Hume gave the Cats a 2-1 lead with a straight-set win over the Gators? 39th-ranked Greg Ouellette. Florida?s Vladimir Obradovic evened the tally at two, defeating UK?s Nate Emge, 6-3, 6-3.
UK?s Matt Emery forced a second-set tiebreaker after dropping the first set to Florida?s Chris Brandi, but Brandi prevailed in the tiebreak to give the Gators the lead. Kentucky?s Marcus Sundh split the first two sets with Florida?s Ryan Sherry, but Sherry pulled away in the final set, winning by a 6-1 margin to clinch the match.
?I thought it was a great college match,” UK Coach Dennis Emery said. “That doubles point was so important. We were up a break at court two and we won at court one, but we didn?t get it done. That was a huge factor. We played well in singles, but we were disappointed to not get the win. Florida is a great team, and we were right there. We played our tails off. Hopefully we can keep on getting better.?
Kentucky?s streak of four straight appearances in the SEC semifinals comes to an end. The Cats now will await the NCAA tournament selection announcement on May 6.
Florida 4, Kentucky 2
Doubles
1. No. 6 Martirosyan/Witten (UK) def. No. 10 Mirzadeh/Ouellette (UF) ? 8-6
2. Briceno/Tell (UF) def. Emge/Hume (UK) ? 8-6
3. Brandi/Dolberg (UF) def. Emery/Sundh (UK) ? 8-5
Singles
1. No.3 Jesse Witten (UK) def. No. 31 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) ? 6-4, 6-2
2. Alex Hume (UK) def. No. 39 Greg Ouellette (UF) ? 6-3, 6-1
3. No. 103 Vlad Obradovic (UF) def. Nate Emge (UK) ? 6-3, 6-3
4. Nestor Briceno (UF) vs. Tigran Martirosyan (UK) ? 7-5, 3-6, 4-3, susp.
5. Chris Brandi (UF) def. Matt Emery (UK) ? 6-1, 7-6 (7)
6. Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Marcus Sundh (UK) ? 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
