STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team couldn’t keep the momentum rolling after a marathon first round match and fell to fourth-ranked Kentucky, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2012 SEC Men’s Tennis Tournament.
Kentucky started the match taking a tightly contested doubles point.
Number one doubles featured a match-up of two of the top-20 pairs in the country. Kentucky’s 12th-ranked pairing of Panav Jha and Eric Quigley defeated the 17th-ranked Commodore pairing of Gonzales Austin and Alex DiValerio, 8-4.
Vanderbilt was winning, 7-3, at number two singles, which saw Blake Bazarnik and Jeff Offerdahl on top of the 37th-ranked Wildcat pairing of Alex Musialek and Anthony Rossi.
Unfortunately, three doubles saw Vanderbilt’s Charlie Jones and Joe Dorn fall 9-8 to Tom Jomby and Alejandro Gomez, giving Kentucky the doubles point.
Kentucky jumped out to a 2-0 lead after Alejandro Gomez (No. 110 nationally) beat Vanderbilt’s Kovrigin, 6-4, 6-0, at number five singles.
The lead quickly went to 3-0 when Anthony Rossi, who plays number three singles and is ranked 19th in the nation, defeated Offerdahl, 6-4, 6-4.
With Kentucky needing just one more point to take the match, Bazarnik put up a fight at number four singles, but 76th-ranked Jomby took a 6-3, 7(1)-6 win to clinch the match.
The Commodores now stand at 8-15. They will wait to see if a national ITA ranking of 43 is enough to earn their 11th NCAA Tournament bid and fifth in the past six seasons.
Singles
1. #3 Eric Quigley (UK) vs. #40 Charlie Jones (VU) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (abandoned)
2. #14 Alex Musialek (UK) vs. #102 Gonzales Austin (VU), 6-1, 6-5 (abandoned)
3. #19 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Jeff Offerdahl (VU), 6-4, 6-4
4. #76 Tom Jomby (UK) def. Blake Bazarnik (VU), 6-3, 7(1)-6*
5. #110 Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Anton Kovrigin, 6-4, 6-0
6. #112 Panav Jha (UK) vs. Alex DiValerio (VU) 6-7(1), 0-0 (abandoned)
*Clinched match
Doubles
1. #12 Panav Jha/Eric Quigley (UK) def. #17 Gonzales Austin/Alex DiValerio (VU), 8-4
2. Blake Bazarnik/Jeff Offerdahl (VU) led #37 Alex Musialek/Anthony Rossi (UK), 7-3 (abandoned)
3. Tom Jomby/Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Charlie Jones/Joe Dorn (VU), 9(1)-8*
*Clinched doubles point
Order of Finish
Singles: 5, 3, 4 (1, 2, 6 abandoned)
Doubles: 1, 3 (2 abandoned)
