LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The University of Kentucky men?s tennis team split its matches with Illinois and Morehead State Wednesday at the Boone Tennis Complex. No. 37 UK fell to No. 17 Illinois 4-2 in the opener then bounced back to defeat the in-state rival Eagles 6-0 in the nightcap.
Playing outside, doubles action started competition. The No. 2 Illinois tandem of Ruben Gonzales and Marc Spicijaric defeated UK freshman Will Beck and junior Shane Collins 8-3 for the early advantage. Playing at No. 1 doubles, Kentucky junior Bruno Agostinelli and freshman Brad Cox were broken midway through the match against the No. 29 Illini team of Ryan Rowe and Billy Heiser. That break ended up as the difference-maker as Rowe and Heiser won 8-6, giving the doubles point to Illinois for a 1-0 lead.
The Cats fought back in early singles play. After being down a break early at No. 5 singles, freshman Alberto Gonzalez rallied to win the first set 7-5 and carried the momentum into the second stanza for a 6-1 victory over Illinois? Waylon Chin, leveling the match at 1-1.
Sophomore Alex Lambropoulos vaulted the Cats into the lead, 2-1, with a tight straight-set victory over Illini Abe Souza 7-5, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.
After losing the first set 6-2, Cox fought back in the second set against No. 12 Rowe in the number two singles slot. Cox broke Rowe who was serving for the match at 5-4 and later forced a tiebreaker. Cox led at the six-point changeover, but could not hold on as the Illini won the tiebreak and the match 7-6. The Illinois win evened the match score at 2-2.
The only three-set match of the afternoon was on court four. Beck came out ready in the first set against Heiser, winning convincingly 6-1. In the second, Heiser regrouped with a 6-2 victory. Heiser, ranked No. 94 nationally, used an early break in the third to topple Beck 6-3 in the deciding set giving Illinois a 3-2 advantage.
On stadium court one No. 19 Agostinelli looked to extend his win streak to seven matches against No. 90 Gonzales. The Wildcat broke Gonzales early but the Illini broke back and forced a tiebreaker in the first set, eventually winning 7-6. In the second set, the players battled through several tight games, but Gonzales earned an extra break to win 6-4. Gonzales? win was the deciding point for Illinois.
On court three, senior Marcus Sundh was beginning a third set against Spicijaric but the match was suspended after the final on court one.
With the win, Illinois moved to 11-6 on the year, while Kentucky fell to 10-11.
The evening match under the lights at Boone saw the Wildcats clicking on all cylinders over all six courts of singles action.
Beck bounced back in the night match against Bryan Bradley of Morehead State winning 6-4, 6-1 on court four, for the Cats first point. The stadium show courts were next to finish. Agostinelli rolled over Eagle Greg Johnstone, 6-2, 6-1 on court one, while Cox dispatched MSU?s Dusan Milovanovic 6-1, 6-4 on court two.
Lambropoulos went undefeated on the day with a 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 6 slot over Lovell Medcalf of Morehead State. Team captain Sundh tallied another point for UK with a straight-set win over Eagle Doug Song on court three, 6-1, 6-3.
At No. 5 singles, Collins went three sets with Morehead State?s Charles Williams. Williams won the first set 6-4, but Collins evened the match with a 6-3 win in the second. In the deciding set, Collins broke Williams for the match win at 6-4.
With all singles matches on the side of UK, no doubles matches were played. The win puts the Cats 11-11 on the season while Eagles fall to 7-8.
?I thought we played a really good match against Illinois,? UK head coach Dennis Emery said. ?They are ranked where they are ranked for a reason. They went to the finals of the NCAA last year because they compete really well. The key to the match was No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles. I felt they a good job of beating us at those spots.
?Against Morehead (State) we got what we wanted to get done. We wanted to win the match and play under the lights before we play under the lights at Georgia Friday night so that was good for us.?
Kentucky ventures out on its last conference road trip of the season taking on No. 3 Georgia Friday evening and No. 8 Tennessee Sunday afternoon. Complete recaps of both matches will be available on UKathletics.com.
#17 Illinois 4, #37 Kentucky 2
Singles
1. #90 Ruben Gonzales (UI) def. #19 Bruno Agostinelli (UK) 7-6, 6-4
2. #12 Ryan Rowe (UI) def. Brad Cox (UK) 6-2, 7-6(6)
3. Marc Spicijaric (UI) tied Marcus Sundh (UK) 6-2, 4-6, susp.
4. #94 Billy Heiser (UI) def. Will Beck (UK) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Alberto Gonzalez (UK) def. Waylon Chin (UI) 7-5, 6-1
6. Alex Lambropoulos (UK) def. Abe Souza (UI) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
1. #29 Billy Heiser/Ryan Rowe (UI) def. Bruno Agostinelli/Brad Cox (UK) 8-6
2. Marc Spicijaric/Ruben Gonzales (UI) def. Will Beck/Shane Collins (UK) 8-3
3. Waylon Chin/Brandon Davis (UI) def. Alex Lambropoulos/Marcus Sundh (UK) 4-5, default
Order of Finish
Doubles: 2, 1
Singles: 5, 6, 2, 4, 1
#37 Kentucky 6, Morehead State 0
Singles
1. #19 Bruno Agostinelli (UK) def. Greg Johnstone (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
2. Brad Cox (UK) def. Dusan Milovanovic (MSU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Marcus Sundh (UK) def. Doug Song (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Will Beck (UK) def. Bradley Bryan (MSU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Shane Collins (UK) def. Charles Williams (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Alex Lambropoulos (UK) def. Lovell Medcalfe (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish
Singles: 4, 1, 2, 6, 3, 5
