LEXINGTON, Ky. ? University of Kentucky men?s tennis team player Bruno Agostinelli earned First Team All-SEC honors as announced during championship week by the Southeastern Conference office in Birmingham, Ala.

Agostinelli is currently ranked 26th nationally in singles and 48th in doubles with freshman partner Brad Cox. The junior?s singles ranking of 19th last week was the highest of his career and the best for a Wildcat since the end of the 2005 season. Agostinelli is Kentucky?s first player to earn first team conference honors since Alex Hume in 2006.

The Niagara Falls, Canada native carries a singles record of 22-13 this season including 7-4 in league play. Impressively, Agostinelli is 14-10 against ranked players this year. During a nine-day stretch in late March, the Wildcat defeated five consecutive ranked opponents as part of a six-match win streak to guide the Cats to a 4-2 record during that period.

In the fall season, Agostinelli defeated the No. 2 player in the nation, Ohio State?s Steven Moneke, at the All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. He then followed that up with a finals appearance in Kentucky?s signature fall tournament, the Charles Fluitt Invitational, and later advanced to the round of 16 at the Wilson/ITA Southeast Regional.

In doubles play Agostinelli and Cox stand at 15-11 on the year with an 8-4 ledger in the SEC. The chemistry of the first-time partners was evident at the Southeast Regional when they earned their first victory against the fifth-seeded tandem of Schnugg and Hunt from Georgia. A few rounds later, the Wildcat duo defeated the No. 5 team nationally and top seed of Buikema and Thibadeau from Alabama en route to a semifinals appearance. More recently in their last road match of the regular season, Agostinelli and Cox defeated the No. 25 team of Hensel and Smith from Tennessee, 8-6.

Agostinelli earned Second Team All-SEC accolades last season and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2006.