No. 9 Kentucky will host a top-10 showdown with No. 8 Oklahoma on Sunday at...
University of Kentucky Team Page
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After earning a spot in the 2013 Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Indoor National Championship a week ago, the No. 9 University of Kentucky men’s tennis team will host No. 8 Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET inside the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center.
“This should be a really good match on Sunday,” UK head coach Cedric
Kauffmann said. “Oklahoma is a really good team and they present us with a lot of challenges. This should be a lot of fun and we hope to carry our momentum off of last weekend into the match. We had a really solid week of preparation and practice, so I am anxious how my young team will respond.”
Kentucky (5-0, 0-0 SEC) is fresh off a monstrous weekend, as the Wildcats took down No. 42 Michigan State and No. 17 Texas in the regional phase of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend to punch their ticket to Seattle and the ITA Indoor National Championships. In those wins, senior Anthony Rossi went 2-0, picking up a win over No. 31 Soren Hess-Olesen of Texas 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to help clinch the match for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats are out to a 5-0 start on the young season with three wins over teams ranked in the ITA’s top-50. In addition to Kentucky’s 4-1 win over Texas on Sunday, the Wildcats have also collected wins over No. 42 Michigan State and No. 22 Indiana.
One of Kentucky’s biggest successes so far has been in doubles play, as UK has yet to drop the doubles point all season and has only lost one match in the 15 doubles matches played this season. The Wildcats are led by Tom Jomby and Kevin Lai, who are ranked in the top 50 of the nation and have played at No. 1 doubles for the duration of the season.
In singles play, no player has been more dominant than powerful junior Tom Jomby, who is 4-0 on the season and sailing through his matches, as the Frenchman has yet to drop a set all season. In fact, in all but one of his four singles matches, he has taken the opening set 6-0. Jomby had a sensational fall season, playing more matches than anyone on the team with a 10-4 singles record and going 9-3 in doubles with Lai.
This will be the first time UK has ever faced off against the
Sooners in program history, and will also be the first match up of two top-10 teams in the 2013 NCAA men’s tennis season.
Oklahoma (4-0, 0-0 Big XII) also booked a trip to Seattle, Wash., this past weekend as the Sooners knocked down Harvard and Memphis to advance to the National Indoors. OU overall is 3-0 on the season while also recording a win over Witicha State in the opening weekend of NCAA action. Leading the Sooners is John Roddick, who is in his fourth year in charge of the Sooners.
Admission to the match on Sunday is free and fans are welcome to park in Parking Structure 7 for no cost. Fans will also receive free access to gameday match programs, men’s and women’s posters and schedule cards for no cost.
For continuing coverage of UK men’s tennis, log on to UKathletics.com.
