University of Washington
Kentucky
Cats Nip Huskies In ITA National Team Indoors
February 21, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 21, 2011
Tournament Central:
SEATTLE - Over three days of play in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, the Huskies received quite a crash course on what their team can accomplish this year. After a thrilling upset on Saturday night, the 29th-ranked Dawgs had another big opportunity to topple 13th-ranked Kentucky tonight at the Nordstrom Tennis Center, but the Wildcats stepped up late for a 4-2 victory, leaving just Monday's championship match between Virginia and Tennessee on the tournament docket.
UW comes out of the tournament encouraged by competitive matches against the nation's very best, highlighted by Saturday night's upset of 10th-ranked Texas A&M, but Washington also was left with room to grow over the next few months, and Sunday's loss stung after UW came in hoping to pocket another signature win.
The Huskies (7-4) won the doubles point for the second night in a row to gain the early 1-0 edge. Kyle McMorrow and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan clinched it with an 8-6 win over Eric Quigley and Brad Cox at the No. 1 match, following the first win together for sophomore Marton Bots and freshman Daniel Schmidt, who were 8-6 winners at No. 3.
But Kentucky rallied with wins at the top two singles spots. The third-ranked Quigley broke open a close No. 1 singles match against 66th-ranked Nedunchezhiyan and won, 7-5, 6-1. McMorrow then was edged for just the second time this year at second singles, 6-2, 6-4 by 70th-ranked Alex Musialek.
Seconds later, however, Bots tied the match back up at 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Tom Jomby at No. 6 singles. A critical turning point then came at the fourth court, where Schmidt led his third set, 5-3, over Alberto Gonzalez, and served for the match. But Gonzalez broke and wound up scoring the 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 win for UK's third point of the night.
Down a set, senior Tobi Obenaus needed to win his second set to keep UW's chances alive. He did just that, breaking serve at 5-5 and then serving out the set against 79th-ranked Anthony Rossi at fifth singles to force a third. But Rossi came on late in the match, and provided the clincher in the end, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, denying Obenaus a chance to be the hero for the second straight night. Kildahl had to abandon his No. 3 singles match at 3-4 down in the third set against Cox.
Tomorrow at noon, No. 1-seeded Virginia will look to win a fourth-consecutive ITA National Team Indoor Championship title, facing off against third-seeded Tennessee at the Nordstrom.
Washington Men's Tennis
Seattle, Wash. - Nordstrom Tennis Center
February 20, 2011
ITA National Team Indoor Championships - Consolation
No. 13 Kentucky 4, No. 29 Washington 2
Doubles
1) (24) McMorrow/Nedunchezhiyan (UW) def. Quigley/Cox (UK), 8-6
2) (67) Kildahl/Obenaus (UW) vs. Jomby/Gonzalez (UK), 5-6 DNF
3) Bots/Schmidt (UW) def. Musialek/Gomez (UK), 8-6
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles
1) (3) Eric Quigley (UK) def. (66) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (UW), 7-5, 6-1
2) (70) Alex Musialek (UK) def. (42) Kyle McMorrow (UW), 6-2, 6-4
3) (125) Martin Kildahl (UW) vs. Brad Cox (UK), 7-6 (9), 4-6, 3-4 DNF
4) Alberto Gonzalez (UK) def. Daniel Schmidt (UW), 1-6, 6-1, 7-5
5) (79) Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Tobi Obenaus (UW), 6-2, 5-7, 7-3
6) Marton Bots (UW) def. Tom Jomby (UK), 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 6, 4, 5
Players Mentioned
