Nov. 5, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s tennis senior Eric Quigley could not continue his impressive tournament run, falling to No. 7 Dennis Nevolo of Illinois in the semifinals of the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., on Saturday.
Quigley, who is ranked third in the nation in singles by the ITA, and Nevolo held serve in the first set to tie the match at 5-5 before Nevolo broke Quigley and then held serve to take the first set 7-5. Nevolo then earned a late break on Quigley again in the second set to post a 6-4 win and claim the match and a spot in the finals.
After the loss, Quigley was honored with the 2011 USTA/ITA Sportsmanship Award as selected by a panel of coaches, officials and tournament committee members. Quigley received a spot into the tournament after claiming the singles consolation title at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., earlier this fall.
“It means a lot,” Quigley said of the award. “It was a tough day today; Nevolo played well. But this makes up for it a little bit. It’s always good to win a sportsmanship award. It means a lot that they think highly of me.”
The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., has posted 11 wins over ranked foes this fall, including seven against opponents ranked in the top 25. The senior has a 19-4 record this year and is 137-43 for his career, sitting only seven wins shy of tying the school record for singles wins in a career. Paul Varga (1982-85) holds the school record in career singles wins with a 144-80 post.
This was Quigley’s third-consecutive year to play in the tournament with the senior holding an 8-4 all-time record at the event. Quigley won the singles consolation title at the event last year against Nevolo.
Quigley is now 6-1 in his collegiate career against Nevolo with the two stars squaring off three times last season, including in the 2010 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Singles Consolation Final, where Quigley defeated Nevolo 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
As the only tournament on the ITA calendar to showcase elite players from every level of college tennis, the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships serves as the culmination of the fall season. Hosted by Columbia University, this prestigious event features a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw for men and women.
Gaining automatic entry into the tournament are champions from the USTA/ITA Division I Regional Championships held across the country in October, winners of the USTA/ITA National Small College Super Bowl, and the consolation champions, doubles finalists and singles quarterfinalists from the ITA Men’s and Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships.
In many cases, the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships has served as a springboard to success for players at the US Open, which is also played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. At the 2011 US Open alone, 1992 National Indoor singles champion Lisa Raymond (Florida) won the women’s doubles title, 2006 National Indoor doubles champion John Isner (Georgia) reached the singles quarterfinals, and 2007 National Indoor doubles champions Somdev Devvarman and Treat Conrad Huey (Virginia) reunited to win two rounds in doubles.
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 National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center – Flushing, N.Y.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Men’s Singles First Round
– No. 3 Eric Quigley (Kentucky) def. No. 24 Sadio Doumbia (Georgia) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
– No. 20 Alex Musialek (Kentucky) def. No. 63 Damian Hume (Boise State) 6-0, 6-7, 6-3
Friday, November 4th – 9 a.m.
Men’s Singles Round of 16
– No. 3 Eric Quigley (Kentucky) def. No. 10 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
– Mitchell Frank (Virginia) def. No. 20 Alex Musialek (Kentucky) 6-4, 1-6, 6-0
Men’s Singles Quarterfinals
– No. 3 Eric Quigley (Kentucky) vs. Haig Schneiderman (Columbia) 6-1, 6-2
Saturday, November 5th – 9 a.m.
Men’s Singles Semifinals
– No. 7 Dennis Nevolo (Illinois) def. No. 3 Eric Quigley (Kentucky) 7-5, 6-4
All Four Wildcats Go Undefeated On Day Two of Bulldog Scramble: University of Kentucky men’s tennis sophomores Alejandro Gomez, Ryuji Hirooka, Panav Jha and Maks Gold each posted at least won singles win en route to Kentucky going a combined 7-0 in singles action on Saturday at the Bulldog Scramble in Athens, Ga.
Gomez, Jha and Hirooka each posted two singles wins on the day, while Gold won his lone singles match. Gomez took down Nathan Pasha of Georgia 6-3, 6-2 and Victory Valente of Georgia State in a three-set thriller 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Jha had a fantastic day, defeating his first ranked opponent at the collegiate level when he took down No. 110 Ignacio Taboada of Georgia 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 and then followed that performance with a straight-sets 6-4, 6-3 win over Blake Bazarnik of Vanderbilt.
Hirooka also had two singles wins, taking down Eric Diaz of Georgia 6-1, 6-4 to start the day and then defeated Ismael Lahlou of Georgia State 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to end the day.
Gold claimed his lone singles match by defeating Joe Dorn of Vanderblt 6-3, 6-3.
Play will resume Sunday with a round of singles and doubles, beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Friday, November 04, 2011
Doubles:
Dominique Madden/Zachary Rigsby (Clemson) def. Alejandro Gomez/Panav Jha (Kentucky) 8-6
Hunter Harrington/Yannick Maden (Clemson) def. Ryuji Hirooka/Maks Gold (Kentucky) 9-8(1)
Ignacio Taboada/Nathan Pasha (Georgia) def. Alejandro Gomez/Panav Jha (Kentucky) 8-3
Hernus Pieters/Eric Diaz (Georgia) def. Ryuji Hirooka/Maks Gold (Kentucky) 9-8(5)
Singles:
No. 74 Yannick Maden (CLEM) def. Alejandro Gomez (UK), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Panav Jha (UK) def. Hunter Harrington (CLEM), 6-4, 7-6(4)
Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Dominique Madden (CLEM), 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4
Ismael Lahlou (Georgia State) def. Maks Gold (Kentucky), 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Singles:
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Nathan Pasha (UGA) 6-3, 6-2
Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Eric Diaz (UGA) 6-1, 6-4
Panav Jha (UK) def. No. 110 Ignacio Taboada (UGA) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Ismael Lahlou (GSU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Victor Valente (GSU) 6-7, 7-6, 6-3
Maks Gold (UK) def. Joe Dorn (VANDY) 6-3, 6-3
