Kentucky Sweeps Old Dominion, Advances to NCAA Second Round
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.– Sealed with a win from team captain and Kentucky native Eli Stephenson, Kentucky (17-11, 7-7 SEC) earned a 4-0 win over Sun Belt champion Old Dominion (18-8, 7-0 SBC) in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament. With the victory, the Cats have advanced to the second round in each of the last eight iterations of the event.
Kentucky will face No. 1 Wake Forest (35-1, 13-0 ACC) in the second round of the Winston-Salem Regional at 5 p.m. ET tomorrow. The Demon Deacons defeated Gardner-Webb, 4-1, in the day’s other first round contest. The Cats and Deacs have met in the NCAA Tournament five teams, with Kentucky claiming its only victory in the last postseason meeting between the teams—a 4-3 victory in the 2022 Lexington Super Regional.
In addition to Stephenson second clinching victory of the season, Kentucky earned points from doubles, No. 78 Jaden Weekes, and Matt Rankin to secure the sweep. In Kentucky’s last eight NCAA first round matches, the Wildcats have won via sweep six times.
The Cats started the day by winning the doubles point for the 13th time this season. The Monarchs claimed the early advantage with a 6-3 win on court No. 2, but a late-set surge from Martin Breysach and Charlelie Cosnet allowed Kentucky to even the session. Playing only their second match of the season at the third court, the French duo rattled off wins in each of the last four games to claim a 6-4.
With the doubles point down to the top court, Stephenson was once again at the scene of the clinch, as the Louisville native—along with partner Jack Loutit—survived an extended tiebreaker to give the Cats the advantage. The No. 12 team in the country gained an early break against Connor and Codie van Schalkwyk—a team just outside the ITA Doubles Rankings—but a break-back from the Monarchs brought the match to a dead heat that would sustain to the very end.
The Cats took a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak, but an Old Dominion push extended the tiebreak into extra points and even gave the Monarchs a match point. A double fault kept Loutit and Stephenson alive, allowing the Wildcat duo to secure the win on their fourth set point, 7-6 (9).
The Wildcats were able to sustain this momentum into singles play, as Kentucky players won the opening set on all six courts. No. 78 Weekes delivered the performance of the day, only dropping one game on his way to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Yanis Moundir. The Montreal native has now won six of his last seven matches—all in straight sets—and owns a team-best 23 wins across the fall and spring seasons.
Rankin was the next Wildcat to finish his match, claiming a straight sets win at No. 6 singles to give Kentucky a 3-0 lead in the match. The sophomore from Edinburgh, Scotland defeated Thomas Nelson 6-4, 6-2 for his seventh win in the last eight completed matches.
Needing just one point to clinch, the remaining four Wildcats in play were unable to clinch the match in straight sets. The match became a race for the clinch with Cosnet and Stephenson battling to leads in their deciding sets to put their team on the precipice of advancement.
In the end, Stephenson was able to rally to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aryan Salen on court five to claim the clinching point for the Cats.
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No. 32 Kentucky vs. No. 56 Old Dominion
Doubles Results
- No. 12 Stephenson/Loutit (UK) def. van Schalkwyk/van Schalkwyk (ODU) 7-6 (9)
- Rolland de Ravel/Majchrzak (ODU) def. Ghibaudo/Weekes (UK) 6-3
- Breysach/Cosnet (UK) def. Olivier/Nelson (ODU) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles Results
- No. 53 Antoine Ghibaudo (UK) vs. Cosme Roland de Ravel (ODU) 6-3, 3-6, 0-5 (unfinished)
- No. 58 Jack Loutit (UK) vs. Connor van Schalkwyk (ODU) 6-3, 6-7 (2), 0-2 (unfinished)
- No. 78 Jaden Weekes (UK) def. Yanis Moundir (ODU) 6-1, 6-0
- Charlelie Cosnet (UK) vs. Jean-Karim Olivier (ODU) 6-3, 4-6, 5-2 (unfinished)
- Eli Stephenson (UK) def. Aryan Saleh (ODU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
- Matt Rankin (UK) def. Thomas Nelson (ODU) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 6, 5
