LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The No. 40 University of Kentucky men?s tennis team jumped out to an early lead but could not hold off a rally by No. 31 Vanderbilt as the Commodores slipped past the Wildcats 4-3 Saturday afternoon inside the Boone Tennis Center.
Doubles matches on courts one and two ended within seconds of each other with different victors. On court two, Vanderbilt?s Nick Cromydas and Bryant Salcedo defeated UK junior Shane Collins and freshman Will Beck 8-5. Meanwhile on court one Kentucky junior Bruno Agostinelli and freshman Brad Cox used three service breaks to defeat Commodores Ryan Preston and Vijay Paul 8-2.
On court three, UK senior captain Marcus Sundh and sophomore Alex Lambropoulos used a break in game six to gain a cushion going into the final service games against Vanderbilt?s Adam Baker and Alex Zotov. With UK leading 6-4 as the other matches ended, both teams held serve the rest of the way giving the Cats the victory and the doubles point.
With Kentucky up 1-0 early, Agostinelli battled Preston on court one in a match of ranked opponents. The UK junior used a break in set one to defeat Preston 6-4. At 1-1 in set two, No. 19 Agostinelli won the next two games, breaking No. 55 Preston twice en route to a 6-2 victory, giving the Cats a 2-0 advantage.
On court four Beck battled Salcedo. After the score was knotted at 2-2, Beck took a timeout for treatment. Salcedo used the break to his advantage rattling off the next four games to win 6-2. In the second set, Beck came back from 5-3 down to take a 6-5 lead. Salcedo then held serve to force a tiebreaker which he eventually won 7-2 to give the Commodores their first match point.
Court two provided the most drama for fans as Cox stood across the net from Cromydas. The Wildcat took the first set 6-3 but the Commodore rolled in the second 6-1. In set three, Cox used an early break to gain a 5-2 advantage. However, Cromydas broke back to win the next three games to tie it up at 5-5. Both then held serve to set up the tiebreaker. Cromydas maintained the momentum to win the tiebreak 7-3 and even the match score at 2-2.
Sundh and No.106 Paul battled through long games in the first set on court three, with each holding serve throughout to set up a tiebreak. After two changeovers, the match was as close as ever, knotted in points at 6-6. But Paul was able to win the next two points to win the first set 7-6. In the second set, Sundh earned the first break to go up 5-3 but Paul broke back to force yet another tiebreak. Paul got the better of Sundh for a second time to win 7-6 and put Vanderbilt up 3-2 in the match.
On court six, Zotov jumped out to an early 5-1 lead but Lambropoulos rallied to win five consecutive games to go up 6-5. Though Commodore held serve to force and later win the tiebreak. Zotov broke early in the second set to gain an early advantage en route to a 6-3 clincher.
Collins took on Commodore Evan Dufaux in the last match to finish. Collins won a tiebreaker 7-6 in a first set without service breaks. Dufaux earned the first breaks in the second set to win 6-3. In the third set, Collins came back from an early deficit to tie the match at 5-5. In a match tiebreak, Collins was victorious to obtain the final point of the day for the Cats.
Kentucky falls to 11-14 overall and 3-8 in the Southeastern Conference. Vanderbilt improves to 12-8 this season and 4-7 in the league.
In a d?j? vu moment, the Cats are seeded tenth and face Auburn, the number seven seed, for the second straight season in the SEC men?s tennis championships next week at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. Auburn defeated Kentucky 4-0 at last year?s tourney, but the Cats won 4-3 in Lexington this season. And again like last season, the winner of the match will face Ole Miss the No. 2 seed overall.
Kentucky and Auburn are scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. ET Thursday in Fayetteville. Live stats and a complete recap of the match will be available on UKathletics.com.
#31 Vanderbilt 4, #40 Kentucky 3
Singles
1. #19 Bruno Agostinelli (UK) def. #55 Ryan Preston (VU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Nick Cromydas (VU) def. Brad Cox (UK) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(3)
3. #106 Vijay Paul (VU) def. Marcus Sundh (UK) 7-6(6), 7-6(2)
4. Bryant Salcedo (VU) def. Will Beck (UK) 6-2, 7-6(2)
5. Shane Collins (UK) def. Evan Dufaux (VU) 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-5(6)*
6. Alex Zotov (VU) def. Alex Lambropoulos (UK) 7-6(0), 6-3
*Court 5 played tiebreaker at 5-5
Doubles
1. Bruno Agostinelli/Brad Cox (UK) def. Ryan Preston/Vijay Paul (VU) 8-2
2. Nick Cromydas/Bryant Salcedo (VU) def. Will Beck/Shane Collins (UK) 8-5
3. Marcus Sundh/Alex Lambopoulos (UK) def. Alex Zotov/Adam Baker (VU) 8-5
Order of finish: D2, D1, D3, S1, S4, S2, S3, S6, S5
