No. 15 Kentucky Falls to No. 1 Virginia in Tight 4-3 Affair

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 15 Kentucky men’s tennis suffered
its first home setback of the 2017 season on Saturday after falling to the top-ranked
Virginia Cavaliers, 4-3, inside the Boone Tennis Center. The Wildcats fall to
5-2 on the season.

“It was a tough match today against a very good opponent,” senior
captain Nils Ellefsen said. “I think we left everything out there on today and
I’m proud of the team’s effort. We came very close to beating the best team in
the country, and seeing just how close we are gives us a lot of confidence and
belief for the rest of the season.”

Kentucky gained the early 1-0 lead with an incredible
comeback. The doubles duo of sophomore Enzo Wallart and Pennington fell to
Soderlund and Corintelli, 6-1, the Wildcats fought back to take the last two
matches. Sophomore Ryo Matsumura and junior Trey Yates earned a ranked victory over
No. 40 J.C. Aragone and Henrik Wiersholm, 6-3. Junior Will Bushamuka and senior
Nils Ellefsen won the last four sets of the match to win 7-5 and clinch the
doubles point.

Virginia punched back when they took the first singles match
after Pennington fell to Carl Soderlund, 6-0, 6-2. UVA took a 2-1 advantage
when No. 17 Matsumura lost to No. 39 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, 7-5, 6-4. Matsumura
dropped to 3-1 in the spring, while Pennington moves to 5-2.

Ellefsen evened the score at 2-2 when he won both sets in
tiebreakers to earn a win over No. 58 J.C. Aragone. Ellefsen earned his first
ranked win of the season 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4). Ellefsen improved to 6-1 on the
season.

UK pulled ahead once again when No. 23 Bushamuka came from
behind to take down Collin Altamirano. Bushamuka dropped the first set, but
rallied and won 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to  give
the Cats a 3-2 advantage. Bushamuka is now 5-1 this season, including 3-0 as
the No. 2 singles player.

Virginia fired back to even the match at 3-3. Yates fell to
Henrik Wielsholm, 6-3, 6-4, and he is now 2-2 this year.

Junior Gus Benson was the last to finish. Benson, in just
his second match of the season, fell 6-1, 6-4 to Alex Ritschard to give
Virginia the match, 4-3.

Kentucky will be back in action tomorrow when they take on
Lipscomb and Northern Kentucky at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively.

#1 Virginia 4, #15
Kentucky 3

Singles competition

1. #39 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. #17 Ryotaro Matsumura
(UK) 7-5, 6-4

2. #23 Will Bushamuka (UK) def. Collin Altamirano (VA) 4-6,
6-4, 6-3

3. Carl Soderlund (VA) def. Beck Pennington (UK) 6-0, 6-2

4. Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. #58 J.C. Aragone (VA) 7-6 (7-5),
7-6 (7-4)

5. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) def. #110 Trey Yates (UK) 6-3, 6-4

6. Alexander Ritschard (VA) def. Gus Benson (UK) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Carl Soderlund/Luca Corinteli (VA) def. Enzo Wallart/Beck
Pennington (UK) 6-1

2. Will Bushamuka/Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Thai-Son
Kwiatkowski/Collin Altamirano (VA) 7-5

3. Trey Yates/Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) def. #40 J.C.
Aragone/Henrik Wiersholm (VA) 6-3

Match Notes:

Virginia 1-0; National ranking #1

Kentucky 5-2; National ranking #15

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,1,4,2,5,6)

T-3:35

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