Kentucky Travels to Arkansas for First Road Conference Match

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Following a pair of home matches to start Southeastern Conference play, No. 12 Kentucky (10-4) will travel to No. 56 Arkansas (10-6) as the Razorbacks host the Wildcats on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at the Billingsley Tennis Center. 
 
Kentucky’s Last Time Out
 
UK opened SEC play by splitting matches at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center this past weekend in its last appearance. The Wildcats beat Alabama, 7-5, in their first outdoor match of the spring season and narrowly fell to defending national champion No. 3 Florida, 4-3. 
 
Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer picked up their team-high eighth doubles victory on Friday over the Crimson Tide’s Enzo Aguiard and Joao Ferreira, 6-1. 
 
10^th-ranked Gabriel Diallo stayed perfect in singles competition, picking up two wins against Alabama’s German Samofalov and Florida senior Duarte Vale, who peaked in last season’s singles rankings at No. 2. No. 39 Lapadat and No. 60 Francois Musitelli also went through the conference opener undefeated, both picking up wins against ranked competition in straight sets during their matches on Sunday. 
 
Scouting Arkansas

The 56^th-ranked Razorbacks jumped one spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings on Wednesday, up from No. 57 despite opening SEC play 0-2 last week. Arkansas started the weekend dropping a tight 4-3 road match against No. 28 Texas A&M, then headed back to the Billingsley Tennis Center to fall to No. 41 Vanderbilt by a 5-2 score on Sunday.
 
Most recently, the Razorbacks took down No. 25 Auburn by a 4-3 score on Friday at their home facility, improving to 1-2 in conference matches.
 
While not having a doubles tandem ranked, two players on the Arkansas men’s tennis team are featured in the ITA singles rankings. 
 
Sophomore Aleksa Bucan was slotted as the No. 47 player in the country. Featuring a 13-6 record, he has played half of his eight finished dual matches from the third spot. No. 95 Alexandre Reco has spent most of his time on court one for the Razorbacks, acquiring a 6-4 record throughout the spring season so far.
 
Arkansas is 9-2 at the Billingsley Tennis Center, also falling to No. 58 Central Florida, 4-1, on Feb. 27.
 
#UKRising in the Rankings
 
Kentucky slipped three spots in the ITA team rankings following a tight 4-3 home loss to Florida, checking in at No. 12 in the country in the most recent poll.
 
The Wildcats boast three players in the singles rankings as well. No. 10 Diallo slots the highest on the team, while No. 30 Lapadat moved up an impressive 53 spots from his previous position. Rounding out UK’s ranked athletes in singles competition is No. 60 Musitelli.
 
The lone ranked doubles tandem is No. 61 Draxl and Hurrion. The pair did not complete a match in the two weeks between rankings, going unfinished against both Alabama’s Filip Planinsek and German Samofalov as well as Florida’s Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton.
 
Next on the schedule

Following a brief one match road trip, the Cats will return to the Boone Center for its next two conference matches. Kentucky will first host No. 25 Auburn on Friday, March 18 at 5 p.m. and No. 28 Texas A&M on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter and Facebook, @kentuckymenstennis on Instagram, and on the web at UKAthletics.com.