LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The University of Kentucky men?s tennis team capped off a successful season at No. 40 in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team rankings. The ranking continues a streak of being in the top-60 in the nation at the end of the season for the 25th consecutive year, all under the direction of head coach Dennis Emery.
Last month, the Wildcats fell to No. 28 Virginia Tech 4-0 after UK gave up an early lead and was unable to recover in their NCAA first-round match at the University of Tennessee?s Outdoor Varsity Courts. The Cats finished the season with a 12-16 overall record including wins over several ranked teams this season.
Playing one of the toughest schedules in the country, the Wildcats battled 16 NCAA tournament teams and 22 ranked squads this season. Kentucky finished the year strong going 6-7 over the last 13 matches of the season. All seven losses came against teams ranked in the top-30, while four of the Cats? victories were over top-40 squads during the late-season stretch.
Since 1987 Kentucky has made a total 19 NCAA appearances, including a string of 13 consecutive bids, all under the direction of Emery. The Wildcat coach claims the third-most tournament berths among active coaches today. In his 26 seasons at Kentucky, Emery has guided his Wildcat teams to the NCAA quarterfinals on three occasions: in 1988, 1992 and most recently 2002. In addition, the Cats have advanced to the round of 16 eight times including the three ?elite eight? appearances.
The Cats were also represented in the NCAA Singles and Doubles championships last month at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. Junior Bruno Agostinelli participated in both championship tournaments while freshman Brad Cox joined Agostinelli on the doubles court.
Agostinelli ended the year ranked in the top-30 in both singles and doubles. Agostinelli stands at No. 28 in singles while he and Cox end the year ranked 27th in the nation.
In his first round match of the NCAA Singles Championships Agostinelli fell to familiar foe Steven Moneke of Ohio State 6-3, 6-4. Agostinelli, an All-SEC First Team member, finished his season with a 22-14 record this season including 14 victories against ranked opponents at No.1 singles.
Ironically, the two opponents faced each other on the court a day later, this time in doubles.
As a doubles duo of Agostinelli and Cox fell in their first round match of the NCAA Doubles Championships to Moneke and Bryan Koniecko of Ohio State 6-3, 7-5. The Wildcat tandem completed their season with a 16-12 overall record including an 8-4 ledger against the SEC in their first year playing together.
In 2008-09 the Cats lose the services of two-time captain Marcus Sundh and departed senior Will Ward, but the future of the program looks strong with the return of Agostinelli and Cox and a national top-five freshman recruiting class according to TennisRecruiting.net.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for the latest men?s tennis updates.
