Setting the Scene
Lexington, Ky. ?The No. 30 Kentucky men?s tennis team (15-7, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) concludes its regular season this week with two tough matches at home against No. 5 Illinois and No. 72 Vanderbilt. On Wednesday, the Cats will host the Illini at 5 p.m. EDT at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center. The Wildcats will then have their final home contest against the Commodores this Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT before heading to the SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on April 20. Prior to the match against Vanderbilt, Kentucky will be honoring its senior class of Nate Emge, Alex Hume and Carey Rubin. Fans can check ukathletics.com for live stats and recaps of both matches.
Scouting the Opponents
Illinois enters Wednesday?s contest as one of the best teams in collegiate tennis. The Fighting Illini are currently ranked fifth and own a 15-5 overall record. The Illini have a 5-1 record in the Big Ten Conference which places them in second place behind No. 8 Ohio State. In February, Illinois reached the semifinals of the National Indoor Championships where they lost to eventual champion Georgia.
Illinois currently has four players ranked in the top-65 including the nation?s third-ranked player in Ryler Deheart. Illinois? second highest ranked player, No. 20 Kevin Anderson, is the brother of Wildcat freshman Greg Anderson.
Vanderbilt is currently on a four-match losing skid after dropping contests against Florida and South Carolina this past weekend. The Dores are 7-12 (2-8 SEC) on the season. VU?s two conference wins came against No. 49 Tennessee and No. 62 Mississippi State in March.
Last Time Out
The Cats are coming off a weekend where they lost to both South Carolina (4-1) and Florida (4-3). At South Carolina on Friday, UK won the doubles point before losing four straight singles matches. Against the Gators at home on Sunday, Kentucky lost the match but recorded singles victories from No. 56 Hume, Rubin and sophomore Marcus Sundh.
Cats in the Rankings
Kentucky enters this weekend?s matches ranked 30th. All 12 of the teams in the SEC are ranked in the top-75. UK currently has three ranked players. UK?s highest ranked player is Hume at No. 56. The Alexandria, Va., native is second on the team with 27 victories this season. Ranked No. 58 is freshman Bruno Agostinelli. Agostinelli is third on the team with 24 wins. Rounding out the Cats? ranked players is No. 115 senior Emge.
History
Kentucky owns the series lead against both Illinois and Vanderbilt. Against the Illini, UK holds the 10-6 edge. Last season the two teams split a pair of matches with the Cats recording one of the biggest wins in school history beating then No. 2 Illinois 4-3 in Champaign, Ill.
In the series with the Dores, UK holds the 42-26 advantage all time. Last season, Kentucky notched a 5-2 victory against Vanderbilt in the regular season and won 4-0 in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Next on Tap
Kentucky will return to action on April 20-23 when it competes in the 2006 SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
