Kentucky (14-10, 4-7 SEC) men’s tennis fell short against No. 6 Mississippi State (18-3, 9-2 SEC) in a 4-1 SEC loss.
The Cats were looking strong early with pairings Martin Breysach and Jaden Weekes along with No. 24 Jack Loutit and Eli Stephenson taking the doubles win. The win was Kentucky’s fourth straight match taking the doubles point.
Kentucky started the match dominating doubles, taking early leads on all three courts and never looking back. Despite taking that early doubles victory, the Cats couldn’t carry that same energy into singles play.
Breysach and Weekes earned the first win for Kentucky on court three, defeating Mississippi State’s Niccolo Baroni and Bryan Hernandez Cortes, 6-3. The Wildcat senior duo is now 3-0 since teaming up just recently this season.
No. 24 Loutit and Stephenson clinched the fourth straight doubles win for the Cats, earning a 6-3 victory over Mario Martinez Sanchez and Michal Novansky. No. 48 Nicolas Arseneault and Matt Rankin were close to taking home another Wildcat win on court two, leading 5-3 when play stopped.
The Wildcats were looking promising heading into singles action against the Bulldogs.
In the singles play, Mississippi State took an early 2-1 lead with wins on courts three and one. No. 62 Martinez Sanchez defeated Weekes, 6-4, 6-2, and No. 35 Benito Sanchez Martines defeated No. 22 Stephenson, 6-4, 6-2.
The Wildcats were looking good on the final four courts despite the two losses, but were ultimately unable to capitalize on anything. No. 55 Loutit and No. 99 Arseneault had the first sets in hand, with Loutit leading 4-1 in the second.
Mikael Arseneault was also showing up for the Cats, holding a match point on court five, and Rankin had just forced a decider on court six.
The freshman, Mikael, saw a 5-2, 40-40 match point up lead slip away on court five, dropping the final five games of the match against No. 97 Hernandez Cortes to drop a 6-2, 4-6, 5-7 decision.
No. 55 Loutit lost the final five games of the second set to see his match on court four end up in a third frame, and No. 99 Arseneault dropped a second-set tiebreaker to also be forced into a decider.
The Bulldogs clinched the win after a hard fight on court six, as Roberto Ferrer Guimares defeated the Scotland-born Rankin, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
One break on a deciding point midway through the final set ended up being the difference in the hard-fought match.
Despite the efforts, the Wildcats were unable to get a single point on the board, and the homestanding No. 6-ranked team took the win.
Kentucky men’s tennis will look to finish its regular season with a win against No. 11 Georgia.
The Cats will return to Lexington for their final regular-season home match, hosting No. 11 Georgia at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 4, in a Senior Day matchup, honoring seniors Martin Breysach, Charlelie Cosnet and Jaden Weeke.
