April 18, 2009
NASHVILLE –
Trailing 1-0 after the doubles point, the No. 12 Kentucky men’s tennis team rebounded to sweep all six singles matches to defeat No. 55 Vanderbilt 6-1; ending the Wildcats’ regular season Saturday at the Commodores’ Currey Tennis Center in Nashville.
UK (16-9, 6-5 SEC) won every singles match in straight sets after Vanderbilt swept the doubles point for an early Commodore lead.
VU (5-16, 1-10) started out with a 1-0 lead after doubles action. Commodores Nick Cromydas and Vijay Paul defeated the UK freshman tandem of Graeme Dyce and Eric Quigley 8-4 on court two. Later on court one, the No. 35 pairing of Ales Zotov and Adam Baker clinched the doubles point by edging No. 18 Bruno Agostinelli and Brad Cox of UK 7-4 in a tiebreaker for the 9-8 victory. The Commodores made it a clean sweep on court three when Bryant Salcedo and Alex DiValerio took out Wildcats Alberto Gonzalez and Alex Musialek, 8-6
The Wildcats responded in singles play to claim the match. Five Wildcats yielded seven games or less to their opponents in singles action to secure the victory.
On court four, Musialek gave up just two games to Baker in a 6-2, 6-0 win. Gonzalez surrendered only four games dismissing DiValerio 6-0, 6-3 on court six. Dyce knocked off Zotov 6-2, 6-2 in the fifth position. Quigley defeated No. 98 Salcedo 6-3, 6-4 on court three for his eighth win over a ranked player this season to clinch the team match point for the Cats. Fifth-ranked Agostinelli defeated Paul 6-4, 6-1 on court one.
The closest match of the day was on court two. Cox edged Cromydas 7-5 in the first set. In the second, the players battled to a tiebreaker. Cox won the breaker in extra points 9-7 to secure the set 7-6 and complete the UK singles sweep.
All 12 Southeastern Conference teams are ranked among the nation’s top 62 squads. Additionally, the conference is top-heavy with seven teams inside the top 18 in the country. Top-10 SEC teams include No. 3 Ole Miss, No. 4 Georgia, No. 6 Tennessee, and No. 10 Florida. The twelfth-ranked Wildcats as well as No. 15 Alabama and No. 18 Auburn complete the group of top-20 squads.
The Wildcats await the seeding process for next week’s SEC tournament hosted by Auburn. The Wildcats likely will be seeded sixth after the win over Vanderbilt.
Please visit UKathletics.com for coverage of the Cats at the SEC tourney.
#12 Kentucky 6, #55 Vanderbilt 1
Currey Tennis Center (Outdoors)
Nashville, Tenn.
Singles
1. #5
Bruno Agostinelli (UK) def. Vijay Paul (VU), 6-4, 6-1
2. Brad Cox (UK) def. Nick Cromydas (VU), 7-5, 7-6 (9-7)
3. Eric Quigley (UK) def. #98 Bryant Salcedo (VU), 6-3, 6-4
4. Alex Musialek (UK) def. Adam Baker (VU), 6-2, 6-0
5. Graeme Dyce (UK) def. Alex Zotov (VU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Alberto Gonzalez (UK) def. Alex DiVelario (VU), 6-0, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 5, 3, 1, 2
Doubles
1. #35 Ales Zotov / Adam Baker (VU) #18 Bruno Agostinelli / Brad Cox (UK), 9-8 (7-4)
2. Nick Cromydas / Vijay Paul (VU) def. Graeme Dyce / Eric Quigley (UK), 8-4
3. Bryant Salcedo / Alex DiValerio (VU) def. Alberto Gonzalez / Alex Musialek (UK), 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
