Oct. 25, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –
Eric Quigley has done it again, the Kentucky men’s tennis sophomore is making another deep run at an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) event this fall by advancing to the singles final and doubles semifinal at the Ohio Valley Regional Championships inside Indiana University’s Indoor Tennis Center in Bloomington, Ind., Sunday.
Earlier this month, the Pewee Valley, Ky., native advanced to the quarterfinals of the singles and doubles draws at the ITA All-American Championships. Should Quigley win a regional championship, he would automatically qualify for next month’s prestigious ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by Yale University, Nov. 5-8.
Quigley and doubles partner Brad Cox are scheduled on the court at 9:00 a.m. ET Monday for the duo’s semifinal against top-seeded Davey Sandgren and J.P. Smith of Tennessee. Later, seventh-seeded Quigley will play in the singles final at noon following the doubles semis. The final features a Southeastern Conference match-up between No. 70 Quigley and Vanderbilt’s Ryan Lipman who is seeded ninth in the tourney.
The Wildcat could play in all three scheduled sessions Monday. Should the UK tandem win its morning tilt, the pair would play in the doubles final at 3:00 p.m. to conclude the tournament.
On Sunday, Quigley played two singles matches and a doubles contest.
The No. 24 ranked tandem of Cox and Quigley opened action on Sunday in a quarterfinal match against East Tennessee State’s Grega Teraz and Charles Bottoli. The fifth-seeded Wildcats dispatched the Buccaneers 8-5 to advance to Monday’s semifinal.
At noon, Quigley took the court again, this time for his singles quarterfinal against ninth-seeded Rhyne Williams of Tennessee. The Wildcat doubled up Williams in first set, 6-3, before clinching a semifinal berth at 6-4 in the second set.
A few hours later, the seventh seed faced fourth-seeded John Peers of Middle Tennessee State in a tight semifinal battle. Ranked No. 58 in the ITA fall preseason rankings, Peers edged Quigley 7-6 in the first set after taking the tiebreaker 7-5. In the second set, Quigley evened the match with a 6-3 result. Quigley clinched the match in the deciding set with a 6-4 decision to advance to Monday’s final.
“Eric played very well today,” said UK men’s tennis head coach Dennis Emery. “He beat two very good players with completely different playing styles. That shows he is becoming more of a complete all-around player.”
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for a recap of Quigley’s performances on Monday.
October 25, 2009
Bloomington, Ind. (IU Tennis Center)
ITA Ohio Valley Regional
Main Draw Singles – Quarterfinal
#70
Eric Quigley (UK) def. Rhyne Williams (UT) 6-3, 6-4
Main Draw Singles – Semifinal
#70 Eric Quigley (UK) def. #58 John Peers (MTSU) 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4
Main Draw Doubles – Quarterfinal
#24 Brad Cox / Eric Quigley (UK) def. Grega Teraz / Charles Bottoli (ETSU) 8-5
