Wildcats Fall in First SEC Road Test at No. 13 Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team began Southeastern Conference play Friday in College Station, Texas, falling 6-1 to the 13th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies. The loss drops the Wildcats to 9-5 in the spring season.   
 
Kentucky began the evening by dropping the doubles point as the pair of sophomore Ying-Ze Chen and freshman Alexandre LeBlanc fell to TAMU junior Hady Habib and sophomore Pranav Kumar, 6-2. The Aggies then secured the doubles point after the UK duo of senior César Bourgois and freshman Liam Draxl fell 6-3 to Texas A&M juniors Carlos Aguilar and Barnaby Smith. No. 2 doubles went unfinished, but the Kentucky duo of Gabriel Diallo and Millen Hurrion were up 4-3 over Aggies sophomore Noah Schachter and senior Valentin Vacherot.
 
Texas A&M clinched the match in singles by winning five of the six courts. TAMU’s Schachter gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead after a 6-1, 6-2 victory on court four over Diallo, followed by third-ranked Vacherot’s 6-3, 6-1 win over Draxl on court one. TAMU grabbed the decisive fourth point when 34th-ranked Habib earned a 6-2, 6-2 win over Hurrion on court two.
 
Kentucky junior Kento Yamada grabbed UK’s lone point of the match with a three-set 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 win over TAMU freshman Pierce Rollins on court six. On court three, Texas A&M’s Aguilar, ranked 31st in the nation in singles, took down Bourgois 6-2, 6-4 while Smith defeated 71st-ranked LeBlanc in a back-and-forth battle on court five, 7-5, 7-5.
 
The Cats will be back in Lexington, Kentucky, on Sunday to face No. 38 LSU. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and Facebook, @kentuckymenstennis on Instagram, and follow along on the web at UKAthletics.com.
 
Kentucky 1, No. 13 Texas A&M 6
 
Singles
1. #3 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Liam Draxl (UK) 6-3, 6-1
2. #34 Hady Habib (TAMU) def. Millen Hurrion (UK) 6-2, 6-2
3. #31 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. César Bourgois (UK) 6-2, 6-4
4. Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Gabriel Diallo (UK) 6-1, 6-2
5. Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. #71 Alexandre LeBlanc (UK) 7-5, 7-5
6. Kento Yamada (UK) def. Pierce Rollins (TAMU) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
 
Doubles
1. Juan Carlos Aguilar/Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. César Bourgois/Liam Draxl (UK) 6-3
2. Noah Schachter/Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) vs. Gabriel Diallo/Millen Hurrion (UK) 3-4, unf.
3. Hady Habib/Pranav Kumar (TAMU) def. Ying-Ze Chen/Alexandre LeBlanc (UK) 6-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,1,2,3,5,6)