Cats Fall on Road to Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Kentucky Wildcats faces the first Southeastern Conference setback of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling 5-0 to the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The loss marks the first time this season that Kentucky has been blanked. Despite the fall, Kentucky sits in second in the conference early on after a pair of wins over Arkansas and Ole Miss last weekend. 

“The boys looked a bit tired today and the level of play was a little below what it has been,” fifth-year head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “We will bounce back. This is a tough young group.”

The loss moves the No. 12 Wildcats to 10-3 on the season, with a 2-1 mark in SEC play. Mississippi State has the same record. 

UK dropped the doubles point the top two duos in William Bushamkua/Nils Ellefsen and Ryotaro Matsumura/Enzo Wallart dropping the matches 6-1 and 6-2, respectively. 

In singles, Matsumura and sophomore Trey Yates fell on the second and fifth courts to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 edge. Wallart had a 6-4, 6-3 setback on the fourth court to secure the match for Mississippi State. 

Ellefsen went to tiebreakers in both sets, dropping the match 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1).

Bushamuka and freshman Austin Hussey were both in the third set when their matches were suspended. 

Kentucky will look to right the ship tomorrow, March 13, as UK faces the Crimson Tide of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with first serve set for 2 p.m.

No. 44 Mississippi State 5, No. 12 Kentucky 0

March 12, 2016 – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.

 

Doubles 

1. Nuno Borges/Niclas Braun (MSU) def. William Bushamuka/Nils Ellefsen (UK) 6-1

2. Mate Cutura/Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Ryotaro Matsumura/Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-4, 6-2

3. Rishab Agarwal/Vaughn Hunter (MSU) vs. Gus Benson/Kevin Lai (UK) 5-4 susp.

 

Singles

1. #36 Mate Cutura (MSU) vs. #23 William Bushamuka (UK) 6-2, 4-6, 5-3, susp.

2. No. 77 Rishab Agarwal (MSU) def. #108 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 6-4, 6-2

3. Nuno Borges (MSU) def. Nils Ellefsen (UK) 7-6(4), 7-6(1)

4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-3, 6-4

5. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) Trey Yates (UK) 6-1, 7-5

6. Trevor Foshey (MSU) vs. Austin Hussey (UK) 2-6, 6-1, 5-4, susp.

 

Order of finish: Doubles: (1,2) Singles: (2, 5, 4, 3)

For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter or Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team on Facebook.