April 6, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The eighth-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team fell victim to tough singles play from No. 14 Vanderbilt, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon in Nashville.
Kentucky came out of the gates strong in the doubles play and in the opening minutes of singles play before Vanderbilt was able to grab the momentum late in the match and take the 4-2 win.
“Congrats to Vanderbilt,” UK head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “To come back and win this match was not easy. On my part, I am not doing a good enough job as a coach. Our boys by now should know the importance of each point and the toughness we have to have to be champions. We are far from that. We are giving points away like it’s candy on Halloween night, and we are okay with it and they think its okay. It is unacceptable at Kentucky.”
No. 19 Tom Jomby and Kevin Lai knocked off Gonzales Austin and Suresh Eswaran of Vanderbilt 8-2 on court one, dominating the match from start to finish to get UK on the board early in doubles. The Wildcats tandem were up 5-1 at one point and cruised to the win.
The doubles point was clinched on court three by Ryuji Hirooka and Beck Pennington who knocked off Ryan Lipman and Kris Yee of Vandy, 8-3 on the third court.
In singles play, Kentucky got off to another strong start, as UK won the opening sets in four of the six matches with Anthony Rossi, Jomby, Grant Roberts and Pennington able to pick up wins.
Pennington won his match to give Kentucky the 2-0 lead on court six in one of two straight-set matches in singles play, 6-1, 6-4. The win for Pennington was his eighth of the season as he moved to 8-0 in 2013 in dual match play.
Anthony Rossi and Tom Jomby both were forced to third sets as the Wildcats fell victim to tough play from the Commodores in the second and third sets.
UK will conclude the regular season next weekend on the road in Gainesville, Fla., and Columbia, S.C. as the Wildcats take on Florida and South Carolina before heading to Oxford, Miss., for the SEC Tournament.
Agate
No. 14 Vanderbilt 4, No. 8 Kentucky 2
Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center – Lexington, Ky.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 3*)
1- No. 19 Tom Jomby/Kevin Lai (UK) def. Gonzales Austin/Suresh Eswaran (VU) 8-2
2- Grant Roberts/Anthony Rossi (UK) led Rhys Johnson/Marc van der Merew (VU) 5-6 (Abd.)
3- Ryuji Hirooka/Beck Pennington (UK) def. Ryan Lipman/Kris Yee (VU) 8-3
Singles (Order of finish: 6, 2, 5, 1, 4*)
1- No. 17 Ryan Lipman (VU) def. No. 18 Anthony Rossi (UK) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
2- No. 62 Gonzales Austin (VU) def. No. 24 Tom Jomby (UK) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
3- Jeff Offerdahl (VU) led Charles Minc (UK) 6-4, 3-6, 3-2 (Abd.)
4- Marc van der Merwe (VU) def. Grant Roberts (UK) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
5- Kris Yee (VU) def. Kevin Lai (UK) 7-5, 6-4
6- Beck Pennington (UK) def. Anton Kovrigin (VU) 6-1, 6-4
