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Men’s tennis improves after two losses

After a blistering start to the season, the Cats showed their first sign of weakness as they dropped two matches before rebounding with two wins in Mississippi this weekend.

No. 5 UK traveled to Texas where it fell to Baylor and No. 14 Texas A&M.

In the first matchup against the Bears, the Cats lost, 6-1, with the lone point coming from freshman Kevin Lai, who remains undefeated in singles play.

“Baylor beat us fair and square,” UK head coach Cedric Kauffmann said in a UK Athletics press release. “They competed harder than us and we did not come out to play.”

After the loss at Baylor, UK stumbled again, losing to the Aggies of Texas A&M, 4-0.

The Cats dropped the doubles point in consecutive matches for the first time this season and suffered their first SEC loss of the year.

After two consecutive losses the Cats dropped to No. 10 in the ITA rankings during the mid-week break.

UK next went to Mississippi, where the team picked up two big SEC wins against No. 4 Ole Miss and No. 13 Mississippi State.

In the first match the Cats picked up the doubles point before cruising to a 4-1 victory over the Rebels.

Lai came from behind to stay undefeated in singles.

On Sunday the Cats (15-4, 4-1) went to Starkville, Miss., where they defeated a tough Bulldog team, 4-2.

UK will host SEC rivals Tennessee and Georgia next weekend at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.

Women’s tennis has mixed spring break

After splitting their opening weekend of SEC play, the Cats hosted four straight SEC opponents at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.

The Cats hosted Missouri on Friday afternoon and earned the 5-2 win over the Tigers.

UK took the doubles point and didn’t look back, with freshman Nadia Ravita leading the way on court one.

In the second matchup of the weekend the Cats fell to No. 4 Texas A&M, 5-2.

One of the points for the Cats came from Ravita, who defeated the No. 6-ranked player in the country, Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar.

Ravita had to come from behind after dropping the first set, 6-2, to win the next two sets, 6-4, 6-2, to upset the No. 6-ranked player.

The Cats then hosted Ole Miss. The Rebels picked up the victory, 4-3, behind stellar doubles play.

The doubles point was decisive as the two teams split the singles matches, giving the Rebels the win.

UK finished off the week by shutting out the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 7-0.

UK will take a week off before traveling to SEC rivals Tennessee and Georgia this weekend.