Feb. 22, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team swept a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala., as the Wildcats picked up two 4-0 wins over Samford and Lipscomb to kick off the 2015 outdoor season.
With the doubleheader sweep, Kentucky moves up to 6-6 on the year, and is back to .500 overall on the season for the first time since Jan. 23 when UK was 2-2.
In the day’s first match against Samford, Kentucky came out strong, winning on courts one and two to clinch the points. On court one, William Bushamuka teamed with Jerry Lopez to take a 6-2 win, with Nils Ellefsen teaming with Trey Yates to pick up a 6-4 win on court two to give the Wildcats the early 1-0 advantage in the match.
In singles, Kentucky’s top three of Lopez, Bushamuka and Kevin Lai all won their matches in straight sets to clinch the 4-0 win for the Wildcats.
Lopez won on court one, 6-1, 6-1 to give the Wildcats the 2-0 lead over the Bulldogs before Bushamuka made it 3-0 on court two with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Samford’s Austin Akers. The match would later be clinched on court three by sophomore Kevin Lai, who won 6-1, 6-4 on court three to give the Wildcats the win.
Information on UK’s 4-0 win over Lipscomb will be released later.
Kentucky will travel to College Station, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La., next week to kick off Southeastern Conference play in what will be outdoor matches, so Sunday provided a chance for the Wildcats to get outside before the SEC season gets underway.
UK faces Texas A&M at 7 p.m. ET on Friday night in College Station before a 2 p.m. ET match against LSU concludes the opening weekend of action in SEC play next Sunday.
No. 29 Kentucky 4, Samford 0
Birmingham, Ala.
Feb. 22, 2015
Doubles:
1. William Bushamuka/Jerry Lopez (UK) def. Trey Carter/Justin Ghavami (SAM) 6-2
2. Nils Ellefsen/Trey Yates (UK) def. Henry Moore/Austin Akers (SAM) 6-4
3. Fares Kilani/E. Lourido Sanchez (SAM) vs. Gus Benson/Kevin Lai (UK) 4-5, unfinished
Singles:
1. Jerry Lopez (UK) def. Fares Kilani (SAM) 6-1, 6-1
2. William Bushamuka (UK) def. Austin Akers (SAM) 7-5, 6-3
3. Kevin Lai (UK) def. Trey Carter (SAM) 6-1, 6-4
4. Justin Ghavami (SAM) vs. Trey Yates (UK) 1-3, unfinished
5. E. Lourido Sanchez (SAM) vs. Nils Ellefsen (UK) 0-1, unfinished
6. Jake Faundez (SAM) vs. Jake Stefanik (UK) unfinished
For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter or “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.
