Sept. 23, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. — University of Kentucky men’s tennis senior Eric Quigley, along with sophomores Tom Jomby, Alejandro Gomez, Ryuji Hirooka and Maks Gold, each posted a singles win in the opening round of the Southern Intercollegiate on Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
Quigley, Jomby and junior Anthony Rossi are playing in the division I singles bracket with Quigley starting the tournament by taking down Maksim Levanovich of Stetson in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (6). The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., advances to play Leandro Toledo of Minnesota in the second round at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Jomby also claimed his first-round singles match in straight sets when he defeated Thomas Cook of Georgia State 7-5, 6-4. Rossi fell in his opening round matchup 6-2, 7-6 (6) to Lucas Oliveira of Virginia Tech. Jomby will play Carl Eguez of South Carolina on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET in the second round, while Rossi squares off against Didrik Berg of Stetson in the first round of the singles consolation bracket.
In the division II singles bracket, Gomez earned his fifth singles win of the fall season by taking down Ismael Lahlou of Georgia State 6-1, 6-1 and will face Jon Pine of Virginia Tech on Saturday in the second round at 10:15 a.m. ET. Fellow sophomore Panav Jha dropped his tightly contested opening round match 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) to Austin Powell of North Carolina State and will play Robin Asker of East Tennessee State on Saturday in the consolation bracket at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Three Wildcats are playing in the division III singles bracket. Gold did well on Friday, earning two wins to advance to the quarterfinals of the bracket. Gold took down Collin Edwards of Georgia Tech 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round and then made light work of Alex Sanjonz of Samford in the second round 6-0, 6-1. The native of Louisville, Ky., will play Juan Pablo Ramirez of Minnesota in the quarterfinals Saturday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Hirooka won his opening round match over Stanislav Vaughan of Liberty 6-2, 7-6 (9) but fell in the second round to Daniel Hernandez of Lipscomb 6-0, 6-1. Hirooka will play in the singles consolation bracket the rest of the tournament.
Senior Matt Davis lost a close first round matchup to Suresh Eswaran of Vanderbilt 6-4, 6-4 and will compete in the consolation bracket Saturday afternoon.
UK also did well in doubles with sixth-seeded Quigley and Jha winning their second round match over Andrew Adams and Nick Jones of South Carolina 9-7. The UK duo received a bye in the opening round and will square off Saturday in the round of 16 against Tripper Carleton and Spencer Newman of Florida at 9 a.m. ET.
The Wildcats only other doubles duo in action was the French duo of Jomby and Rossi. Jomby and Rossi received a bye in the first round and then defeated Robbie Mudge and Powell of North Carolina State 8-6 to advance to the round of 16 on Saturday.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, visit UKathletics.com.
Southern Intercollegiate Championships – Friday, Sept. 23 – UK Results
Division I Singles:
No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Maksim Levanovich (Stetson) 6-4, 7-6 (6)
Lucas Oliveira (Va. Tech) def. No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) 6-2, 7-6 (6)
Tom Jomby (UK) def. Thomas Cook (Ga. State) 7-5, 6-4
Division II Singles:
Austin Powell (NC State) def. Panav Jha (UK) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6)
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Ismael Lahlou (Ga. State) 6-1, 6-1
Division III Singles:
Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Stanislav Vaughan (Liberty) 6-2, 7-6 (9)
Daniel Hernandez (Lipscomb) def. Ryuji Hirooka (UK) 6-0, 6-1
Maks Gold (UK) def. Collin Edwards (Ga. Tech) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Maks Gold (UK) def. Alex Sajonz (Samford) 6-0, 6-1
Suresh Eswaran (Vanderbilt) def. Matt Davis (UK) 6-4, 6-4
Division I Doubles:
Anthony Rossi/Tom Jomby (UK) def. Robbie Mudge/Austin Powell (NC State) 8-6
Eric Quigley/Panav Jha (UK) def. Andrew Adams/Nick Jones (South Carolina) 9-7
