Men’s tennis beats Auburn

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By Holly Brucken

The UK men’s tennis team (17-4, 5-0 SEC) triumphed over Auburn (No. 19) Friday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.

The victory was a significant SEC win for the Cats, shaking off a loss to Baylor earlier in the week.

The Cats won the doubles point and the first three singles matches, securing a 4-0 victory with ease.

“We had a slow start in doubles,” senior Alex Musialek (No. 21) said. “The intensity should have been higher.”

UK picked it up, however, winning the first two of three matches. The third match was left incomplete, as UK claimed the point by winning the first two matches.

The match transitioned to singles, six individual matches worth one point each. Senior Eric Quigley (No. 5) won on court one: 7-5, 6-2.

“I knew the other guy was doing well and it would be a tough one,” Quigley said.

Sophomore Tom Jomby also won his singles match, defeating Lukas Ollert 6-3, 6-4.

Anthony Rossi made a comeback after a shaky first set, defeating Dan Cochrane 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, which sealed the match for UK.

Head coach Dennis Emery said he was pleased with his team’s performance.

“It was very good to see our team firing on all cylinders,” Emery said.

Emery, in his 30th season as UK’s head coach, said he thinks more people should be interested in this year’s team, which is currently ranked seventh in the nation.

“A lot of these guys that you’re watching here will wind up being top 100 players (professionally),” Emery said.

Emery also said that the SEC was the toughest conference in his opinion, and that his team is doing well.

“If we play at our top level and the other team plays at their top level, we should win every time,”  Emery said, emphasizing that this match should be a source of confidence for the team.

The team has high hopes for the rest of the season, including its goal to win both the SEC and national championships. The players and coach agree that the key to UK’s success is focus — both as the team, and individually.

“If we can all stay focused on everything, I think the sky is the limit for our team,” Quigley said.