April 13, 2010

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team moved up three spots to No. 8 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings released Tuesday. The top-10 mark is the ninth time in the last 10 weeks that UK has pulled a top-10 spot in the weekly rankings.

Kentucky (21-7, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) is currently riding a five-match winnings streak, including three wins over top-60 ranked teams. Last week, Kentucky posted wins over No. 13 Illinois, which marked the fifth time this season that UK has defeated a top-16 ranked team. UK also posted wins over No. 51 LSU and No. 59 Arkansas.

UK has been on a hot streak as of late, winning 10 of its last 11 matches, including five wins over ranked SEC teams. The Wildcats have claimed four straight road matches, three in the SEC.

Kentucky recently grabbed another milestone in the storied coaching career of head coach Dennis Emery, claiming his 11th 20-win season with a 5-2 win over Arkansas. The 20-win season is the first for UK since the 2005 team claimed a 21-10 record.

UK boasts two ranked singles players in sophomores Eric Quigley and Alex Musialek. Quigley moved up two spots in the singles rankings to No. 11 on the list. The native of Pewee Valley, Ky.,  is currently riding an eight-match winning streak in singles, including five wins over top-60 opponents. All eight wins have come in straight-sets. Musialek, ranked 50th in singles, has been a staple at the No. 2 singles position all year for Kentucky. The sophomore went 2-1 last week in singles with his only loss coming to a ranked player.

Kentucky also has a ranked doubles team in Quigley and junior Brad Cox. The Wildcats tandem sits at No. 23 in the doubles rankings.

Kentucky defeated Lipscomb 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon and will play Centre College later Tuesday night. Full results and live stats will be available on ukathletics.com.