LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 21 Men's tennis dropped a road match to 5th ranked Kentucky by a 4-0 score at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Sunday afternoon.
All three matches remained close throughout the doubles point to begin the match, with all three matches being tied 5-5 at one point. The newly assembled doubles pairing of Nicholas Heng and Finn Murgett jumped out to a 4-2 lead on court two but faltered late to drop the match 7-5.
On court three, Will Nolan and Tyler Stice came back from a 4-3 deficit to tie the match and ultimately win it in a tiebreaker. Billy Blaydes and Alejandro Moreno bounced back from falling behind 4-1 against No. 23 Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer to tie the match at five. The two doubles teams traded games to enter a tiebreaker that was won by Lapadat and Mercer to claim the tight doubles point.
In singles, Kentucky continued their momentum from doubles by jumping out to early leads on four courts. Blaydes took a 2-1 lead in the opening set against Charlelie Cosnet and won the next four consecutive games to claim the set. Nolan had the other opening set win for the Tigers, climbing back from a 3-1 deficit to win the set 6-3.
The Wildcats then posted straight set wins on courts one and five to push their lead to 3-0. Kentucky's Jaden Weekes then defeated Alejandro Moreno 6-3, 6-1 to clinch the team win for the Wildcats.
The win improved Kentucky's record to 16-2 and a perfect 7-0 in the SEC while the loss dropped Auburn's record to 13-7 and a 4-3 mark in conference matches.
Auburn will play just one match next weekend, as they will face Arkansas on Sunday at noon CT in Fayetteville.
#5 Kentucky 4, Auburn 0
Singles Results:
1. #36 Taha Baadi (UK) def. #43 Tyler Stice 6-1, 6-2
2. Joshua Lapadat (UK) vs. #91 Finn Murgett (AUB) 6-2, 2-4, unfinished
3. Jaden Weekes (UK) def. Alejandro Moreno (AUB) 6-3, 6-1
4. Charllie Cosnet (UK) vs. Billy Blaydes (AUB) 1-6, 4-4, unfinished
5. Jack Loutit (UK) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-1, 6-1
6. Christophe Clement (UK) vs. Will Nolan (AUB) 3-6, 4-2, unfinished
Doubles Results:
1. Joshua Lapadat/JJ Mercer (UK) def. Billy Blaydes/Alejandro Moreno (AUB) 7-6 (3)
2. Taha Baadi/Jack Loutit (UK) def. Nicholas Heng/Finn Murgett (AUB) 7-5
3. Will Nolan/Tyler Stice (AUB) def. Matt Rankin/Jaden Weekes (UK) 7-6 (5)
Time of match: 2:17; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3,1; Singles: 1,5,3