By Alex Risen

The UK men’s tennis team hit a trifecta this weekend against a trio of teams. North Carolina-Wilmington, Wright State and Murray State all fell to the Cats during an all-day triple-header on Saturday.Saturday marked the first time in program history that the Cats played three teams on the same day.

Head coach Dennis Emery thought the triple-header would be a unique opportunity to get in some early matches for his deep team.

“We’re trying to get our freshmen prepared for dual matches and not just individuals,” Emery said. “It’s a little different than individual stuff and we wanted to make sure to get acclimated to that.”

And acclimated the Cats were. Freshman Alex Musialek dominated Murray State’s No. 1 singles player, Ben Clos — and Musialek gave up just one game during the match. Musialek said he was in the zone, concentrated on winning.

“I just tried to stay focused during the whole match,” Musialek said. “It was difficult because I would hit some good shots and follow them up with bad ones. You have to respect your opponent and stay focused.”

Musialek was focused — he hit several pinpoint winners down the line.

“Sometimes you know you can win points,” Musialek said. “I think I did a good job of that.”

But it wasn’t just the freshman who played well. Senior co-captain Shane Collins put away Wright State’s Byron Wowchuk 6-3, 6-2 before beating Murray State’s Jose Berardo 6-2, 6-2 in the night session.

“The young guys did well and then we got a nice break,” Collins said. “Hawaii was a good team trip and we all played well. It built team confidence and got us three good matches before we came back.”

The Hawaii trip, which took the Cats to Manoa, Hawaii from Jan. 8-10, brought together the team after Winter Break, and the Cats are now rolling into regular-season play with some good wins behind them.

Collins personally feels a lot better about this semester than last, thanks in part to the Hawaii trip. He said he had a rough semester in the fall, but he’s now pulled a 180-degree turn.

“I got a break and then Hawaii, and now I’m ready to go,” Collins said.

With young and old players winning, it’s hard not to picture the Cats as a Southeastern Conference contender despite the conference’s talent, including back-to-back defending national champion Georgia. The Cats are the deepest they’ve been since they won the Southeastern Conference in 1992, Emery said.

“It isn’t coming from the coaches or the staff,” Emery said. “But from the guys. They know this could be a special year and they aren’t going to give anything away.”