Cats Fall to Vols in Regular Season Finale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 43 Kentucky (15-13, 5-7 Southeastern Conference) dropped its regular season finale on Sunday at Boone Tennis Center by way of a 4-0 decision to No. 15 Tennessee (18-6, 8-4 SEC).
 
The loss locks the Wildcats into a four-way tie with South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Alabama at sixth place in the league standings. As Kentucky and South Carolina each went 2-1 in head-to-head competition against the other three teams, the Gamecocks’ 7-0 defeat of the Wildcats on March 21 designated USC the No. 6 seed and UK the No. 7 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament. Ole Miss will compete as the No. 8 seed, while the Crimson Tide land at No. 9.
 
Sunday’s match began with a special senior day ceremony honoring Enzo Wallart and Ryo Matsumura. Wallart and his doubles partner Ying-Ze Chen were the only Cats to taste victory over Tennessee, beating Pat Harper and Andrew Rogers 6-4 on court two. The match’s doubles point came down to a tiebreaker between Matsumura and Kevin Huempfner versus Scott Jones and Adam Walton, but the Volunteers emerged victorious by a count of 7-6 (4). Tennessee swept three straight singles matchups for a clean sheet on the day.
 
Kentucky will face No. 30 Vanderbilt, the 10^th-seeded team in the SEC Tournament, on Thursday at noon ET in Gainesville, Florida. The Wildcats defeated Vandy 4-3 on the road on March 29.
 
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#15 Tennessee 4, #43 Kentucky 0
 
Singles

1. 1. #29 Timo Stodder (UT) def. Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-2, 6-3
2. #51 Ryo Matsumura (UK) vs. #69 Adam Walton (UT) 4-6, 4-3, unfinished
3. Scott Jones (UT) def. Kento Yamada (UK) 7-5, 6-3
4. Luca Wiedenmann (UT) def. Cesar Bourgois (UK) 6-4, 6-3
5. Kevin Huempfner (UK) vs. Preston Touliatos (UT) 0-2, unfinished
6. Martim Prata (UT) vs. Parth Aggarwal (UK) no result

 
Doubles

1. #9 Timo Stodder/Preston Touliatos (UT) def. Cesar Bourgois/Kento Yamada (UK) 6-3
2. Enzo Wallart/Ying-Ze Chen (UK) def. Pat Harper/Andrew Rogers (UT) 6-4
3. Scott Jones/Adam Walton (UT) def. Ryo Matsumura/Kevin Huempfner (UK) 7-6 (7-4)

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