Feb. 16, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team has an impressive total of six players ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 125 Singles Rankings, including three players in seniors Eric Quigley and Alex Musialek, and junior Anthony Rossi in the top 20, the association announced Thursday.
Kentucky (9-0) is one of only two schools in the nation that has six singles players ranked. Southern California, who has won the last two NCAA National Champions, also has six ranked players. This is the first time in program history that the Wildcats have had three players ranked in the top 20 in the nation in singles at the same time.
Quigley headlines the rankings, coming in at No. 6, while Rossi jumped to No. 13 and Musialek to No. 20. Three members of UK’s stellar sophomore class are ranked in No. 79 Tom Jomby, No. 87 Alejandro Gomez and No. 119 Panav Jha. The rankings mark a career high for Rossi, Jomby and Gomez.
Quigley is having a great senior season with a 32-5 record in singles play, including a 9-0 mark in dual matches. Musialek, who is a co-captain on the team with Quigley, is also performing well this season, sitting at 17-6 overall, including a 3-1 mark in dual matches. Musialek started the spring season with a career-high ranking of 13th after earning five wins over ranked foes during the fall campaign.
Rossi is putting together a tremendous junior year after winning the singles title at the Southeastern Conference Coaches’ Indoor Championships to end the fall season. The native of Marseille, France, is 23-2 this season overall and 6-0 in dual matches. Jomby, a fellow Frenchmen from Nantes, France, moved 16 spots up the rankings this week after starting the spring season 4-0. Jomby is 15-5 overall this season.
Gomez and Jha complete the rankings for Kentucky. Gomez, a native of Cali, Colombia, has clinched four consecutive matches for UK en route to an 8-0 record in dual matches. Jha, a native of Pointe Claire, Montreal, is 14-9 this season, including a 2-3 record in dual matches.
The Wildcats’ top doubles duo of Quigley and Jha earned their first ever ranking as a doubles team, coming in at No. 48. The tandem has played No. 1 doubles all season for UK and is 4-2 this season in dual matches. Quigley/Jha made a run to the semifinals of the SEC Coaches’ Indoor Championships back in January before falling to the tournament’s eventual champion. The duo is 9-4 overall this season after a 5-2 record this fall.
As a team, the Wildcats are off to their best start in the 30-year tenure of head coach Dennis Emery. Kentucky is currently in Charlottesville, Va., for the ITA National Men’s Indoor Championships, which are set to begin Friday. UK will play at 9 a.m. ET Friday against No. 11 Texas A&M in the first round. Live scores from the match are available at UKathletics.com.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team visit UKathletics.com or follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter and “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.
