LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The University of Kentucky men?s tennis team faces tough challenges this weekend when they travel to Charlottesville, Va., to battle top-ranked Virginia Friday at 6 p.m. ET before battling No. 51 Harvard Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
The No. 47 Cats visit a Cavalier squad that has already defeated five teams in the top-50 to start the season 5-0, including road victories over No. 8 Illinois and No. 12 Notre Dame. Virginia is led by defending 2007 NCAA singles champion and current No. 1 player, junior Somdev Devvarman.
In addition, Virginia freshman Dominic Inglot ranks third in the nation while junior Treat Huey stands 12th in the poll. In doubles, Huey and Devvarman rank as the top tandem in the nation while two other Cavalier pairs rank in the top-25. Live stats for the match are available at the UVA official athletics website: www.virginiasports.com.
The weekend tilt with Harvard provides a match-up of two of the longest-tenured coaches at the same university in NCAA history. Crimson head coach Dave Fish is in his 32nd year at Harvard while UK head coach Dennis Emery is leading the Wildcats for the 26th consecutive season. Both coaches are tied for third among active coaches with 18 NCAA tournament berths apiece.
Harvard is 2-0 after starting its season last weekend with victories over No. 45 William and Mary and Purdue at home. The Crimson squad is led by the No. 14 doubles pair of Ashwin Kumar and Sasha Ermakov.
Kentucky (4-2) is seeking its first win after two consecutive losses to ranked teams. The Wildcats are coming off of a 4-3 road defeat at No. 69 Indiana Tuesday. UK?s No. 21 doubles team of Bruno Agostinelli and Brad Cox won a tight match in the No. 1 slot but the Wildcats could not earn the doubles point. The Cats bounced back in singles play as No. 31 Agostinelli, Cox and Alberto Gonzalez served up victories to even the match 3-3 before UK senior Will Ward lost a heartbreaker at the No. 1 position in extra games of a decisive third set.
Please visit UKathletics.com for full recaps of the Wildcats? weekend action.
