Jan. 8, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Behind a dominating performance in both singles and doubles play, the seventh-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team went 9-0 in singles play and 3-1 in doubles play to complete day one of the Rainbow Warrior Challenge on the campus of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu on Saturday.
“It’s been a great week down here because we have been able to play outdoors, which is key, and we got in some competitive matches today that will help us prepare for the SEC Coaches’ Indoors,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “It’s nice to get back to playing competitively because we haven’t been able to compete since early November. That is along break, but I thought that the guys looked good today considering they haven’t played in two months.”
The tournament is split into three singles flights and two doubles flights with both UK and Hawaii having three singles players and two doubles teams in each flight. The event will be played in round-robin format, with a winner being crowned out of each flight.
No. 5 Eric Quigley, No. 13 Alex Musialek and No. 36 Anthony Rossi played in singles Flight A with all three earning wins Saturday. Quigley started the day by taking down Jonathan Brooklyn 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 before Musialek and Rossi each posted straight-set wins. Musialek defeated Dmytro Kovalyov 6-4, 6-3, while Rossi claimed a 6-4, 6-3 win over Chas Okamoto.
Quigley has a career singles record of 138-43, sitting only three wins shy of tying Jesse Witten (2002-05) for second all-time in career singles wins. Paul Varga (1982-85) holds the school record in career singles wins with a 144-80 post. Musialek is 90-41 for his career in singles action, ranking him tied for 18th on Kentucky career singles wins list with Edo Bawono (1998-2001).
In Flight B, UK played a trio of ranked sophomores in No. 85 Panav Jha, No. 95 Tom Jomby, No.111 Alejandro Gomez, with all three earning wins. Jha took down Jared Spiker 6-4, 1-6, 6-0, while Jomby and Gomez secured straight-set wins with Jomby defeating Charlie Rice 6-2, 6-3 and Gomez making light work of Danilo Casanova 6-3, 6-4.
Kentucky also had three sophomores fill its Flight C lineup. Ryuji Hirooka started play in the flight by taking down Chris Meyer 6-3, 6-1, while Maks Gold posted a 7-6 (4), 6-0 win over David Schuster. Grant Roberts finished the flight with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Lam.
In Flight A doubles action Quigley and Hirooka posted a win over Brooklyn and Casanova 8-4, while Musialek and Gomez took down Kovalyov and Spiker 8-3. In Flight B, Gold and Roberts earned an 8-4 victory over Rice and Shuster, while Hawaii’s Meyer and Okamoto defeated UK’s Matt Davis and Anthony Rossi 8-2.
The final day of the event will begin Sunday at 4 p.m. ET at the UH Tennis Complex.
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.
Rainbow Warrior Challenge
Honolulu, Hawaii – UH Tennis Complex
January 7, 2012
Singles (Flight A)
No. 5 Eric Quigley (UK) def. Jonathan Brooklyn (UH) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
No. 13 Alex Musialek (UK) def. Dmytro Kovalyov (UH) 6-4, 6-3
No. 36 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Chas Okamoto (UH) 6-4, 6-3
Singles (Flight B)
No. 85 Panav Jha (UK) def. Jared Spiker (UH) 6-4, 1-6, 6-0
No. 95 Tom Jomby (UK) def. Charlie Rice (UH) 6-2, 6-3
No. 111 Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Danilo Casanova (UH) 6-3, 6-4
Singles (Flight C)
Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Chris Meyer (UH) 6-3, 6-1
Maks Gold (UK) def. David Schuster (UH) 7-6(4), 6-0
Grant Roberts (UK) def. Lam (UH) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles (Flight A)
Eric Quigley/Ryuji Hirooka (UK) def. Jonathan Brooklyn/Danilo Casanova (UH) 8-4
Alex Musialek/Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Dmytro Kovalyov/Jared Spiker (UH) 8-3
Doubles (Flight B)
Maks Gold/Grant Roberts (UK) def. Charlie Rice/David Shuster (UH) 8-4
Chris Meyer/Chas Okamoto (UH) def. Matt Davis/Anthony Rossi (UK) 8-2
