May 8, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. –
The No. 11 Kentucky men’s tennis team defeated Cleveland State 4-0 Friday afternoon at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex to advance to the second round of the 2009 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships and face No. 18 Wake Forest.
The Wildcats (18-10) will battle the Demon Deacons Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Boone. Wake Forest was also a 4-0 winner over No. 42 Northwestern earlier in the day. UK is the top seed at the Lexington host site and the 11th seed overall in the men’s tourney.
Gates open at 11:30 a.m. ET and single day passes are available at $6 per adult or $4 for children and seniors. Free spectator parking is available to fans in the “R” (residential) lots on either side of the Nutter/Shively Training Facility. Live results will be available on UKathletics.com.
The last time UK hosted the NCAAs at Boone in 2005, UK also defeated the Horizon League Champions (Butler) 4-0 before meeting an Atlantic Coast Conference team in the second round (Florida State). The Wildcats hope for a different result Saturday than the ’05 team’s 4-2 loss in the second round. The winner of this year’s second round match advances to play in the “sweet 16” at the NCAA Team Championships in College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M University May 14-19.
Senior captain Bruno Agostinelli, ranked sixth in the country, captured the team match point Friday for the Wildcats with his 6-2, 6-1 singles win over CSU’s Phil Orno on court one.
The No. 22 team of Agostinelli and sophomore Brad Cox started the Cats out on the winning track with an 8-3 victory on doubles court one over CSU’s Orno and Ryan Hamning. UK sophomore Alberto Gonzalez and Alex Musialek paired up on doubles court three to take out Vikings Robert Fox and Steven Wipprecht 8-2 to clinch the doubles point and give the Blue and White an early 1-0 lead heading into singles action.
On singles court three, freshman Eric Quigley rolled out to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Cleveland State’s Rob West to give UK a 2-0 advantage.
Gonzalez surrendered only three games in his match, blanking Wipprecht 6-0 in the first before taking the second 6-3. His win put UK up 3-0, setting up Agostinelli on court one.
Other Wildcats in action when play was called included Cox who edged Hamning in a first set tiebreaker 7-6(5) and led 4-2 in the second on court two. Sophomore Graeme Dyce won the first set 6-3 over Fox on court five before the two got knotted up at 3-3 in the second. Viking Yannick Goosens took the first set 6-4 over Musialek on court four.
UK snapped a winning streak of 10 matches by Cleveland State (20-6). The 2009 Horizon League champion concluded the season with its second straight NCAA bid and the most wins in school history.
“I thought it was good for us to get this match in outdoors,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “Cleveland State was a good opponent and we were able to take them out with a really solid performance. We’ll need to play better tomorrow to get a win. Wake Forest is very good in doubles and strong at the top of the lineup like us. They are strong in a lot of the same spots, so that should make for a really interesting match tomorrow.”
Earlier in the day, Wake Forest (21-9) defeated No. 42 Northwestern (18-9) from the Big Ten, 4-0. Demon Deacon senior Cory Parr led Wake Forest to victory. The No. 6 doubles team of Parr and Steven Forman helped clinch the opening point in doubles with an 8-5 win over NU’s Marc Dwyer and Alex Sanborn. Ranked 10th nationally in singles, Parr also rolled over Dwyer in singles 6-0, 6-1 in quick fashion.
Wake Forest head coach Jeff Zinn commented on a match-up with the Wildcats Saturday, “It’s going to be tough playing them on their home court. It will be a battle tomorrow.”
Click UKathletics.com for a recap of the Wildcats’ second round match Saturday against the Demon Deacons.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
SECOND ROUND
HILARY J. BOONE VARSITY TENNIS COMPLEX
LEXINGTON KY
(All times Eastern)
Saturday, May 9
1 p.m.: Wake Forest vs. KENTUCKY
Friday May 8, 2009
Lexington, Ky. (Boone Tennis Complex)
NCAA First Round – Match 2
(11) Kentucky 4, Cleveland State 0
Singles
1. #6 Bruno Agostinelli (UK) def. Phil Orno (CSU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Brad Cox (UK) led Ryan Hamning (CSU) 7-6(5), 4-2, unfinished
3. #115
Eric Quigley (UK) def. Rob West (CSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Yannick Goossens (CSU) led Alex Musialek (UK) 6-4, unfinished
5. Graeme Dyce (UK) def. Robert Fox (CSU) 6-3, 3-3, unfinished
6. Alberto Gonzalez (UK) def. Steven Wipprecht (CSU) 6-0, 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 6, 1*
Doubles
1. #22 Bruno Agostinelli / Brad Cox (UK) def. Ryan Hamning / Phil Orno (CSU) 8-3
2. Graeme Dyce / Eric Quigley (UK) led Yannick Goosens / Rob West (CSU) 6-4, unfinished
3. Alberto Gonzalez / Alex Musialek (UK) def. Robert Fox / Steven Wipprecht (CSU) 8-2
Order of Finish: 1, 3
