KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ? The No. 37 University of Kentucky men?s tennis team was swept by the No. 10 Tennessee Volunteers 7-0 on its last road trip of the regular-season. The Cats pushed the Volunteers? at the top of the singles line-up to three sets each and forced the deciding doubles match to extra games but could not collect a victory.
Kentucky?s No. 1 doubles team of freshman Brad Cox and junior Bruno Agostinelli upset Tennessee?s No. 17 duo of Kaden Hensel and J.P. Smith 8-6. Earlier, the Tennessee tandem of Jeremy Tweedt and Davey Sandgren defeated the Cats? No. 2 squad of junior Shane Collins and freshman Will Beck 8-2.
With the doubles match wins at one per team, the focus turned to court three?s deciding contest. UK sophomore Alex Lambropoulos and senior Marcus Sundh pushed the Volunteer team of Boris Conkic and Matteo Fago to extra games after knotting the score at 7-7. But the Vols used a break and held serve to win the next two games 9-7. The close victory gave Tennessee a 1-0 lead going into singles play.
Tennessee extended its lead to 3-0 with straight-set victories on courts two and six. At the No. 4 slot, Beck and Sandgren saw each other across the net again after battling at No. 2 doubles. Sandgren won the re-match 6-2, 6-2. Sandgren?s doubles partner Tweedt bested Lambropoulos at the No. 6 singles position 6-4, 6-1.
On court two, Cox edged No. 25 Smith 7-6 in the first set. But the Volunteer stepped up his game and won the next two sets at 6-1 to clinch the match point for Tennessee.
Collins pushed Fago to extra games in the first set but lost 7-5. The Volunteer used that momentum to post a 6-2 victory in the second.
The two best chances for a UK victory lingered on courts one and three.
Sundh steamrolled over No. 72 Conkic in the first set 6-1 on court three. The Volunteer returned the favor in the second, winning 6-2. In a much closer third stanza, the players battled to a 6-4 result with Conkic taking the win.
On court one No.19 Agostinelli battled No. 96 Hensel in a closely-contested, three-set affair. Agostinelli won the first set 6-4 and battled Hensel to 5-5 in the second, but the Volunteer rallied for the 7-5 win. In the decisive set the players knotted the score up again at 4-4, but Hensel was able to hold on for the 6-4 victory to finish the day.
With the win, Tennessee moves to 19-2 overall and 8-2 in the SEC. Kentucky falls to 11-13 and 3-7 in the conference.
?Today we lost some close ones at the top of our line-up,? UK head coach Dennis Emery said. ?Tennessee just had too much depth for us through the rest of the line-up. It?s always hard to win on the road in the SEC but it is especially hard when it is against No. 3 Georgia and No. 8 Tennessee. It was a tough weekend for us but now we have to come back and re-group to play a good Vanderbilt team.?
Kentucky wraps up regular-season conference play Saturday against No. 30 Vanderbilt at the Boone Tennis Complex. Live stats and a complete recap the match will be available on UKathletics.com.
#10 Tennessee 7, #37 Kentucky 0
Singles
1. #96 Kaden Hensel (UT) def. #19 Bruno Agostinelli (UK) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
2. #25 J.P. Smith (UT) def. Brad Cox (UK) 6-7, 6-1, 6-1
3. #72 Boris Conkic (UT) def. Marcus Sundh (UK) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Davey Sandgren (UT) def. Will Beck (UK) 6-2, 6-2
5. Matteo Fago (UT) def. Shane Collins (UK) 7-5, 6-2
6. Jeremy Tweedt (UT) def. Alex Lambropoulos (UK) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
1. Bruno Agostinelli/Brad Cox (UK) def. #17 Kaden Hensel/J.P. Smith (UT) 8-6
2. Jeremy Tweedt/Davey Sandgren (UT) def. Will Beck/Shane Collins (UK) 8-2
3. Matteo Fago/Boris Conkic (UT) vs. Marcus Sundh/Alex Lambopoulos (UK) 9-7
Order of finish: D2, D1, D3, S4, S6, S2, S5, S3, S1
