Oct. 23, 2011

LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s tennis seniors Eric Quigley and Alex Musialek each won three matches on Sunday, advancing the UK stars to face each other in the singles main draw finals and team up together in the doubles main draw finals at the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Ohio Valley Regional Indoor Championships held at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tenn.

Quigley, who is seeded first in the singles main draw and ranked third in the nation in singles, and Musialek, who is the No. 2 seed at the event and ranked 20th in the nation in singles, will compete for the singles title Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET.

After the singles final, the duo will team up together in the doubles main draw final. The winners of the singles and doubles finals will advance to compete in the 2011 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, which will be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Nov. 3-6.

Quigley has already sealed a spot in the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships after winning the singles consolation title at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., a few weeks back. The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., is the two-time defending singles champion at this event, posting a 18-0 record in the event the past two season, having only dropped one set.

The UK star advanced to the finals with two straight-set wins on Sunday. Quigley started the day with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andrew Carter of in-state rival Louisville and then secured his spot in the finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 55 Josh McTaggart of Indiana. Quigley is having a fantastic fall season, sitting at 16-2 overall. For his career, Quigley is 134-41 as a Wildcat, just 10 wins shy of tying Paul Varga for the school record for career singles wins. Varga went 144-80 during his UK career.

“Quigley played a really good match today in the semifinals against a really crafty and talented player,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “I thought that Eric was aggressive and served extremely well in the match. He used the whole court and was hitting some great shots. It was a good win for him.”

Musialek had a unique day on the courts as he had to defeat two teammates in order to advance to the finals. The native of Dax, France, defeated UK sophomore Panav Jha in the quarterfinals 6-4, 6-1 before winning a tightly contested match over his good friend and fellow Frenchman No. 95 Anthony Rossi in the semifinals 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Musialek is 9-3 this fall with several key wins over highly ranked foes. The senior is 87-40 during his career at Kentucky.

“Musialek and Rossi played the match of the tournament today in their semifinal,” Emery said. “It was just really one of the best matches that I have seen in a long time. They both played with an incredibly high level of intensity and were very physical and aggressive with their play. They had some long rallies in the match because of how aggressive the two were playing. Musialek just came up a little bit bigger towards the end and that was the different. I think the thing that matched showed me more than anything was that Rossi is a top-20 level player right now and that is something he can really build on going forward.”

Kentucky continued its winning ways in doubles, getting a gutsy and miraculous comeback win from Quigley and Musialek in the doubles semifinals. Down three breaks and trailing 5-0 to No. 38 Isade Juneau and Jeremy Langer of Indiana, Quigley and Musialek turned the match around, winning eight of the final nine games to claim the 8-6 win and move on to the doubles final. The UK duo, which is seeded No. 1 in the tournament in doubles and No. 19 in the nation by the ITA, will face sixth-seeded Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese of Tennessee in the finals on Monday after the singles final is over.

The Wildcats dominated play in the singles main draw all weekend long, with UK stars Quigley, Musialek, Rossi, Jha and sophomore Tom Jomby filling five of the eight spots in the singles main draw quarterfinals with Quigley, Musialek and Rossi advancing into the semifinals. The all-Kentucky final on Monday will be the fourth match this tournament that has featured a Kentucky player competing against another Kentucky player. All told, there are three finals that have either been played or will be played Monday at the event with Kentucky being represented in each one of them.

Sophomore Ryuji Hirooka continued to perform well at the event, advancing all the way to the singles consolation finals. The native of Tokyo, Japan, played three singles matches on Sunday to advance to the finals, starting the day with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Manuel Barroetavena of Chattanooga before defeating Brandon Fickey of Tennessee in come-from-behind fashion 0-6, 6-2, [10-7]. Xavier’s Jimmy Roebker stopped Hirooka’s run in the finals with a 6-3, 6-3 win.

“Ryuji had a great tournament,” Emery said. “He had a tough first round in the main draw, but he really bounced back well in the consolation draw and won a bunch of matches back there. He beat a very good player today in Brandon Fickey of Tennessee. It is always difficult to play Tennessee at Tennessee because they are such a talented team with great tradition and fan support, so Ryuji winning that match showed a lot of confidence and toughness.”
 
Hosted by Columbia University, the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships features a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw. Heading the field are champions from USTA/ITA Division I Regional Championships held across the country in October, winners of the USTA/ITA National Small College “Super Bowl,” and the singles quarterfinalists, doubles finalists and consolation champions from the ITA Men’s All-American Championships.

The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships was inaugurated in 1978 for the men and 1984 for the women. Past champions and finalists include current professionals John Isner (Georgia), James Blake (Harvard), Somdev Devvarman (Virginia), Irina Falconi (Georgia Tech), Lisa Raymond (Florida) and Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford).

For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter or search “University of Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team” on Facebook.

USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Indoor Championships

Goodfriend Tennis Center/Knoxville Racquet Club – Knoxville, Tenn.

Results/Schedule of Play – All Times Eastern

Thursday, Oct. 20

Singles First Round:

No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Robert Salcedo (Dayton) 6-0, 6-0
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Ray Leonard (Ball State) 6-1, 6-1
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Elfore Zito (MTSU) 7-6, 6-2
Panav Jha (UK) def. Jose Berardo (Murray State) 6-2, 6-0
Sander Gille (ETSU) def. Maks Gold (UK) 6-4, 6-2
Joe Salisbury (Memphis) def. Ryuji Hirooka (UK) 6-2, 6-2
No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Michael Lyzwa (Wright State) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles First Round:

Alejandro Gomez/Panav Jha (UK) def. Patrick Bandy/Jimmy Roebker (Xavier) 8-2
Maks Gold/Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. William Hever/Pawel Poziomski (Purdue) 8-5
Tom Jomby/Anthony Rossi (UK) vs. Cameron Dickerson/Forrest Edwards (MTSU) 8-4

Doubles Second Round:

No. 19 Eric Quigley/Alex Musialek (UK) def. Renato Antun/Rafael Matos (Belmont) 3-3, ret.
Brandon Fickey/Edward Jones (UT) def. Tom Jomby/Anthony Rossi (UK) 8-6
Maks Gold/Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Marlon Brand/Ben Davis (MTSU) 8-4
Alejandro Gomez/Panav Jha (UK) def. Jesus Bandres/Sander Gille (ETSU) 8-3

Friday, Oct. 21

Singles Second Round:

No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Rodrigo Amaral (Belmont) 6-1, 6-2
No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Hugo Klientovsky (EKU) 6-3, 6-1
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Will Kendall (Indiana) 6-2, 6-3
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Pawel Poziomski (Purdue) 6-2, 6-2
Tom Jomby (UK) def. Richard Canelas (Xavier) 6-3, 6-3
Panav Jha (UK) def. Saymon Tatarczyk (Purdue) 6-3, 7-5

Singles Third Round:

No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Dimitrije Tasic (Indiana) 6-3, 6-1
No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Syrym Abdukhailikov (Tennessee Tech) 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. David O’Hare (Memphis) 6-1, 6-2
Tom Jomby (UK) def. Isade Juneau (Indiana) 6-3, 6-2
Andrew Carter (Louisville) def. Alejandro Gomez (UK) 6-4, 6-4
Panav Jha (UK) def. Sebastian Stiefelmeyer (Louisville) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6

Singles Consolation:

Andrew Hanley (Dayton) def. Maks Gold (UK) 6-2, 4-6, [10-6]
Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Joao Maio (EKU) 6-0, 6-0

Saturday, Oct. 22

Doubles Round of 16:
No. 19 Eric Quigley/Alex Musialek (UK) def. Will Kendall/Dimitrije Tasic (Indiana) 8-6
Maks Gold/Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Zach Ervin/Sam O’Neill (Butler) 8-6
Mikelis Libietis/Hunter Reese (Tennessee) def. Alejandro Gomez/Panav Jha (UK) 8-3

Doubles Quarterfinals:

No. 19 Eric Quigley/Alex Musialek def. Andrew Carter/Sebastian Stiefelmeyer (Louisville) 8-5
No. 38 Isade Juneau/Jeremy Langer (Indiana) def. Maks Gold/Ryuji Hirooka (UK) 8-6

Singles Round of 16:

No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Mark Kovacs (Purdue) 6-1, 6-4
No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Jeremy Langer (Indiana) 6-3, 6-2
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Michael Lippens (Tennessee) 6-3, 6-4
Tom Jomby (UK) def. Edward Jones (Tennessee) 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3
Panav Jha (UK) def. Mikelis Libietis (Tennessee) 6-3, 7-6 (6)

Singles Consolation Second Round

Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Brandon MacDonald (Xavier) 6-3, 6-1

Singles Consolation Third Round

Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Diego Acosta (Purdue) 6-3, 6-2

Sunday, Oct. 23

Singles Quarterfinals:

No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Andrew Carter (Louisville) 6-3, 6-4
No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Panav Jha (UK) 6-4, 6-1
No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Tom Jomby (UK) 6-4, 5-5 (def.)

Singles Semifinals:

No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) def. No. 55 Josh MacTaggart (Indiana) 6-2, 6-2
No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK) def. No. 95 Anthony Rossi (UK) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3

Doubles Semifinals:

No. 19 Eric Quigley/Alex Musialek (UK) def. No. 38 Isade Juneau/Jeremy Langer (Indiana) 8-6

Singles Consolation Quarterfinals:

Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Manuel Barroetavena (Chattanooga) 7-6, 6-4

Singles Consolation Semifinals:

Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Brandon Fickey (Tennessee) 0-6, 6-2, [10-7]

Singles Consolation Final:

Jimmy Roebker (Xavier) def. Ryuji Hirooka (UK) 6-3, 6-3

Monday, Oct. 24

Singles Final – No. 3 Eric Quigley (UK) vs. No. 20 Alex Musialek (UK)
Doubles Final – No. 19 Eric Quigley/Alex Musialek (UK) vs. Mikelis Libietis/Hunter Reese (Tennessee)

* Singles final on Monday is set for 9:30 a.m. ET, with doubles to follow.