Kentucky Falls to Oklahoma State, Exits ITA Nationals
STILLWATER, Okla. – The No. 14 Kentucky men’s tennis team saw
its ITA Indoor Nationals run end on Saturday when No. 13 Oklahoma State
defeated UK, 4-0. The loss is the
Wildcats first of the year and moves UK to 5-1 in the young season.
“Today was an embarrassment, head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “There is not much more to say. Today was an opportunity and we didn’t show up. Why we didn’t show up, play smart and tough is my fault. Embarrassing.”
The Cowboys jumped out to a 1-0 lead as the duo of sophomore
Ryotaro Mastumura and junior Trey Yates fell to Lukas Finzelberg and Tristan
Meraut, 6-4. Shortly after, OSU clinched the doubles point when senior Nils
Ellefsen and junior Gus Benson fell 6-4. Will Bushamuka and Beck Pennington
were locked in a 4-4 battle with the No. 5 pairing of Julian Cash and Arjun
Kadhe when OSU clinched the point. The match went unfinished.
In singles, OSU gained a 2-0 lead when Lucas Gerch took down
Ellefsen, 6-1, 6-2.
Oklahoma State took a 3-0 advantage when Pennington fell to
Kadhe 6-3. 6-2. The Cowboys clinched the match when junior Jake Stefanik
dropped the match with Tristan Meraut 6-3, 6-2.
Bushamuka, Matsumura and Yates all had matches unfinished as
Oklahoma State had the win in hand. Matsumura was up 6-2, 2-2 when play was
wrapped up.
Kentucky will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 4 when the
Wildcats take on Virginia. First serve is set for 5 p.m. inside the Boone
Indoor Tennis Center.
For more information
on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on
Twitter or Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team on
Facebook.
#13 Oklahoma State 4,
#14 Kentucky 0
Singles competition
1. #41 Julian Cash (OSU) vs. #23 Will Bushamuka (UK) 7-5,
3-2, unfinished
2. #30 Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) vs. #17 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK)
2-6, 2-2, unfinished
3. Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Beck Pennington (UK) 6-3, 6-2
4. Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Nils Ellefsen (UK) 6-1, 6-2
5. Jurence Mendoza (OSU) vs. #110 Trey Yates (UK) 6-3, 3-3,
unfinished
6. Tristan Meraut (OSU) def. Jake Stefanik (UK) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #5 Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe (OSU) vs. Will Bushamuka/Beck
Pennington (UK) 4-4, unfinished
2. Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Nils Ellefsen/Gus
Benson (UK) 6-4
3. Lukas Finzelberg/Tristan Meraut (OSU) def. Ryotaro
Matsumura/Trey Yates (UK) 6-3
Match Notes:
Kentucky 5-1; National ranking #14
Oklahoma State 4-0; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (4,3,6)
T-1:48 A-347
