March 10, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 5 Kentucky fell to No. 14 Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Complex after dropping the doubles point for the second-consecutive match and then singles matches on courts two, four and five.
It is the first time all season that Kentucky has lost back-to-back matches, and it marks just the fourth loss on the season for UK who is 13-4 overall.
In the doubles point, Kentucky got a win on court one from No. 19 Tom Jomby and Kevin Lai 8-4 over No. 15 Jackson Withrow/Junior Ore, which would be yet another win over a ranked doubles opponent for Kentucky’s top pair. The teams exchanged service holds for the opening seven games of the match before Jomby and Lai broke to go up 5-3 in the match. After matching holds, Jomby served out the match at 7-4 to collect the 8-4 win for the Wildcats on court one.
After the Aggies clinched the match shortly after on court two, the deciding point in the match wound be on court three. Grant Roberts and Anthony Rossi fell down an early break and were never able to recover as the Aggies held on to win it and clinch the doubles point at 8-6. At 6-5, Rossi and Roberts took a 0-30 lead on the TAMU serve, but they were just too much to overcome as the Aggies took the early 1-0 lead in the match.
In singles, Kentucky started out slow for the second-straight match as TAMU collected first-set wins on four of the six courts to start singles play. The second point of the match was decided on court four as Charles Minc was defeated 6-1, 6-1 to give the Aggies the 2-0 lead.
The lead would quickly be expanded to 3-0 overall as No. 18 Tom Jomby was upset on court two by Jeremy Efferding of Texas A&M 6-3, 6-3. Jomby fell down quickly in both sets before making a comeback in the second set. The lead was too much to overcome as Jomby dropped just his third match all season.
The match would be clinched on court five as Grant Roberts fell 6-3, 6-4 and it gave the Aggies the 4-0 win over Kentucky. Roberts fell down a break in the set and couldn’t convert on breaking Jordan Sbazo back as the Aggies won the match.
The four-match road swing continues next week for the Wildcats as they will travel to Southeastern Conference opponents Ole Miss and Mississippi State for an SEC Friday/Sunday series. The Wildcats are still tied atop the SEC Eastern Division with a 2-1 conference record.
Agate
No. 14 Texas A&M 4, No. 5 Kentucky 0
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center – College Station, Texas
March 10, 2013
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 2, 3*)
1- No. 19 Tom Jomby/Kevin Lai (UK) def. Jackson Withrow/Junior Ore (TAMU) 8-4
2- No. 21 Adams/Vinsant, (TAMU) def. Gomez/Hirooka (UK) UK 8-4
3- Efferding/Szabo (TAMU) def. Anthony Rossi/Grant Roberts (UK) 8-6
Singles (Order of finish: 4, 2, 5*)
1- No. 21 Anthony Rossi (UK) led Junior Ore (TAMU) 6-3, 4-4 (abd.)
2- Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) def. No. 18 Tom Jomby 6-3, 6-3
3- Alejandro Gomez (UK) led Harry Adams (TAMU) 7-6 (9), 1-2 (abd.)
4- No. 90 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. Charles Minc (UK) 6-1, 6-1
5- Jordan Sbazo (TAMU) def. Grant Roberts (UK) 6-3, 6-4
6- Behzad Minavi (TAMU) led Kevin Lai (UK) 6-3, 5-2 (abd.)
For continuing coverage of UK men’s tennis, log on to UKathletics.com.
