UK Tennis – No. 22 Kentucky Defeats No. 23 Vanderbilt On Senior Day

Kentucky won on four singles courts

LEXINGTON, Ky. –  The No. 22 Kentucky (14-8, 7-3 SEC) men’s tennis team earned a ranked Senior Day win over No. 23 Vanderbilt (16-6, 6-4 SEC) on Sunday afternoon inside the Boone Tennis Center. UK took two ranked singles wins and picked up all four points in singles play.

“It was an emotional day for us,” head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “I was really proud of the upperclassman, the juniors, but especially the seniors. We has a rough Senior Day last year and we talked a lot about this match and what Kentucky Tennis is about and I thought they represented that well. The growth from their freshman year to today has been a “170” and we’re about 10 percent away from becoming the players they can be come. I think we can get that 10 percent in the next couple weeks but I’m really proud of Gus (Benson), Will (Bushamuka), Trey (Yates) and Jake (Stefanik).”

Kentucky went down early to Vandy on the doubles court. The Wildcats fell on courts No. 1 and No. 3, but the duo of Will Bushamuka and Austin Hussey took down No. 71 Panu Virtanen and Lachlan McPhee, 7-6 (7-5) for their first ranked win of  the season as a duo.

UK quickly tied the match at 1-1 when No. 26 Ryo Matsumura took down No. 25 Cameron Klinger, 6-1, 6-1. Matsumura improved to 16-2 this season and is 8-1 against nationally ranked opponents. Matsumura beat the No. 3 player in the nation on Wednesday.

No. 116 Trey Yates put the Cats up 2-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 Senior Day win over Baker Newman on the third court. Yates has now won four-straight matches and is 12-5 this season.

No. 115 Enzo Wallart extended the lead to 3-1 when he took down Billy Rowe, 6-1, 6-3. Wallart is now 3-1 on the No. 4 court.

No. 54 Will Bushamuka clinched the win for Kentucky. Bushamuka earned his fourth ranked win of the season when he defeated No. 45 Daniel Valent, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Bushamuka is 8-6 this season.

Kentucky will wrap up SEC play next weekend at Tennessee and at Georgia.

Tennis Match Results

Vanderbilt vs Kentucky

Apr 08, 2018 at Lexington, Ky.

(Boone Tennis Center)

#22 Kentucky 4, #23 Vanderbilt 1

Singles competition

1. #26 Ryotaro Matsumura (KENTUCKY) def. #25 Cameron Klinger (VANDY) 6-1, 6-1
2. #54 Will Bushamuka (KENTUCKY) def. #45 Daniel Valent (VANDY) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
3. #116 Trey Yates (KENTUCKY) def. Baker Newman (VANDY) 6-1, 6-4
4. #115 Enzo Wallart (KENTUCKY) def. Billy Rowe (VANDY) 6-1, 6-3
5. Kento Yamada (KENTUCKY) vs. Maxwell Freeman (VANDY) 4-6, 3-4, unfinished
6. Austin Hussey (KENTUCKY) vs. George Harwell (VANDY) 5-7, unfinished

Doubles competition

1. #52 Cameron Klinger/Billy Rowe (VANDY) def. #41 Gus Benson/Cesar Bourgois (KENTUCKY) 6-3
2. #71 Panu Virtanen/Lachlan McPhee (VANDY) def. Will Bushamuka/Austin Hussey (KENTUCKY) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Enzo Wallart/Ryotaro Matsumura (KENTUCKY) def. George Harwell/Baker Newman (VANDY) 7-5

Match Notes:

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,3,4,2)

For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter or Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team on Facebook. 

‑ GO CATS –