LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The No. 54 Wildcats (6-6, 1-1) faced defeat at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex Sunday afternoon against the No. 11 Gators (6-3, 2-0). Kentucky fell to Florida, 6-1, in its first outdoor home match of the season.

The doubles point was a fight between courts one and two after Florida took the win on court three. UK?s Marcus Sundh and Will Ward defended their number two position and beat out Tyler Hochwalt and Johnny Hamui of the Gators, 8-5. The number one position was filled by Kentucky?s Bruno Agostinelli and Will Ward. Despite serving first, the UK duo was defeated by Florida?s Greg Ouellette and Jeff Dadamo, 8-6, securing the doubles point for UF.

Kentucky?s line-up continued to pressure the Gators during singles play. UK?s No. 36 Agostinelli was pitted against No. 6 Ouellette in the number one slot. However, the Gators? 6-2, 6-2 win on court one secured their win. Wildcat Brad Cox played at the number three position with Florida?s No. 58 Alex Lacroix. Cox fought the set into a tie-breaker but was defeated by Lacroix, 7-6(3), 6-1.

The final point of the day came down to court two, occupied by Kentucky?s No. 63 Ward and Florida?s Nestor Briceno. The pair fought through long sets, but in the end it was UK who took the point, saving the Cats from a match sweep. Ward defeated Briceno, 6-4, 6-3.

?Today we played a good match, we fought hard,? said Head Coach Dennis Emery. ?We were close to winning the doubles point, but the key to the match was Florida?s momentum coming out of the doubles win.?

Kentucky will continue conference play next weekend on the road against LSU on Friday at 3 p.m. and at Arkansas on Sunday at 2 p.m.

#11 Florida 6, #54 Kentucky 1

Singles

1. #6 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. #36 Bruno Agostinelli (UK) 6-2, 6-2
2. #63 Will Ward (UK) def. Nestor Briceno (UF) 6-4, 6-3
3. #58 Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Brad Cox (UK) 7-6(3), 6-1
4. Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Marcus Sundh (UK) 6-2, 6-2
5. Tyler Hochwalt (UF) def. Alberto Gonzalez (UK) 6-3, 6-2
6. Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Will Beck (UK) 6-0, 7-5
(Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 3, 6, 2)

Doubles
1. Ouellette/Dadamo (UF) def. Bruno Agostinelli/Brad Cox (UK) 8-6
2. Will Ward/Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Hochwalt/Hamui (UF) 8-5
3. Briceno/Lacroix (UF) def. Will Beck/Shane Collins (UK) 8-0
(Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1)