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Wildcat's Bid for Consecutive Upsets Spoiled By No. 3 UCLA 4-1
Feb. 12, 2010 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- University of Kentucky men's tennis sophomore Alex Musialek posted his third-consecutive singles victory, but No. 3 UCLA took down No. 10 Kentucky 4-1 in the opening round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's National Team Indoor Championships Friday at the Boar's Head Sports Club. UK will take on No. 13 Illinois on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET in the consolation bracket of the tournament. Illinois lost to No. 4 Tennessee 4-0 on Friday in the opening round. Kentucky got its lone singles win at the No. 2 singles position from sophomore Alex Musialek. The reining Southeastern Conference Player of the Week posted a 7-5, 6-3 victory over UCLA junior Holden Seguso. The victory marks the third consecutive straight-sets victory for the native of Dax, France, who is ranked 39th in the ITA singles rankings. UK was in line for possible wins at the No. 1 and No. 5 singles positions, but the matches did not finish due to UCLA senior Kallim Stewart clinching the match for the Bruins at the No. 6 singles position. Playing at the No. 1 singles position, Kentucky sophomore Eric Quigley won the first set against UCLA's Haythem Abid 6-4, but lost the second set 4-6. The Pewee Valley, Ky., native was trailing 3-2 in the third set. Junior Alberto Gonzalez (Bradenton, Fla.) was headed for a three-set match with No. 94 Amit Inbar of UCLA at the No. 5 singles position after winning the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (9-7) and trailing in the second set 5-4. No. 118 Nick Meister, Matt Brooklyn and Stewart claimed the three-singles wins for UCLA at the No. 3, 4 and 6 singles positions, respectfully.
The Wildcats lost the doubles point for the first time in five matches, but Quigley and junior Brad Cox held strong at the No. 1 doubles position. The ninth-ranked duo defeated Abid and Seguso 9-7. Quigley and Cox are now 4-1 on the season and have won two straight doubles matches. No. 3 UCLA 4, No. 10 Kentucky 1 Singles Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 6* Doubles Order of finish: 1, 2, 3 |