March 8, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. –
University of Kentucky men’s tennis team split a Sunday doubleheader at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center, falling to the No. 59 Tennessee Volunteers in the first of two matches, before winning the nightcap, 6-0 over the Murray State Racers to cap off the 1-1 day.
With the results, Kentucky moves to 7-9 overall on the season, and falls to 0-3 in Southeastern Conference action through the opening two weekends of conference action.
In the first match, Kentucky dropped a 4-3 decision to Tennessee, as sophomore Nils Ellefsen lost in the deciding third set of the sixth singles court, as the Wildcats dropped the overall match. Ellefsen had a one set to love lead after taking the first set, 7-6, then lost the second and third sets, 7-6 and 6-2.
Tennessee won the doubles point with 6-3 wins on courts one and three as the No. 3 doubles pair in the country of Hunter Reese/Mikelis knocked off Beck Pennington and Kevin Lai on court one. On court three, UK’s Ellefsen and Trey Yates dropped a 6-3 decision to clinch the 1-0 UT lead.
Kentucky would then go on to take a 2-1 lead with two straight-set wins on courts two and three, as William Bushamuka won 6-3, 6-2 and sophomore Jerry Lopez won 6-3, 6-4 over Hunter Reese on court two to give the Wildcats two quick singles wins.
After UT knotted the score at 2-2, Kentucky’s Kevin Lai would also pick up a straight-set singles win on court five as he beat Tennessee’s Igor Smelyansky 6-3, 6-1 on court five.
The match then came down to sophomore Nils Ellefsen on court six, as the Wildcats dropped the overall match on the heels of the 6-2 third set.
In the nightcap, Kentucky did not drop a single set to the Murray State Racers, as Lopez, Bushamuka, Lai, Jake Stefanik, Trey Yates and Gus Benson all collected singles wins. There were no doubles played.
UK is next back in action on Thursday afternoon in Columbia, S.C., as the Wildcats face the South Carolina Gamecocks at 3 p.m. ET.
Agate
No. 59 Tennessee 4, Kentucky 3
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
March 8, 2015
Singles (Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 1, 5, 6*)
1 – #15 Mikelis Libietis (UT) def. #85 Beck Pennington (UK), 6-4, 6-7, 7-5
2 – Jerry Lopez (UK) def. Hunter Reese (UT) 6-3, 6-4
3 – #122 William Bushamuka (UK) def. Jack Schipanski (UT), 6-3, 6-2
4 – Luis Valero (UT) def. Trey Yates (UK) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
5 – Kevin Lai (UK) def. Igor Smelyansky (UT) 6-3, 6-1
6 – Andrew Dromsky (UT) def. Nils Ellefsen (UK) 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 3*)
1 – #3 Hunter Reese/Mikelis Libietis (UT) def. Beck Pennington/Kevin Lai (UK) 6-3
2 – Jerry Lopez/William Bushamuka (UK) vs. Igor Smelyanski/Andrew Dromsky (UT) 5-6 DNF
3 – Jack Schipanski/Luis Valero (UT) def. Nils Ellefsen/Trey Yates (UK) 6-3
Kentucky 6, Murray State 0
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
March 8, 2015
Singles (Order of finish: 3, 1, 4, 2*, 5, 6)
1 – Jerry Lopez (UK) def. Max McLean (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
2 – William Bushamuka (UK) def. Will True (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
3 – Kevin Lai (UK) def. Aleks Mitric (MSU) 6-2, 6-0
4 – Jake Stefanik (UK) def. Srdjan Trosic (MSU) 6-0, 6-2
5 – Trey Yates (UK) def. David Hess (MSU, 6-2, 6-1
6 – Gus Benson (UK) def. Anjan Kashyab (MSU) 6-0, 6-2
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