University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee 4, Kentucky 0
March 28, 2001 | Men's Tennis
Tennessee's Mario Toledo
Vols Shut Out Kentucky 4-0
KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee dominated visiting Kentucky Wednesday 4-0 at the Varsity Courts on the UT campus. The win over the No. 42 Wildcats moved the Vols record to 11-3 on the season and 4-1 in SEC play.
"It was really nice to come back home and get this win," Tennessee head coach Michael Fancutt said. "For some reason we always play fairly well against Kentucky. They (Kentucky) just lost a close one to LSU, who we lost to 4-1 Saturday, so they are a pretty good team. We still have a huge week ahead of us with Auburn coming to town Friday and traveling to Georgia Sunday. Hopefully we can continue this type of play the rest of the week and the season. Our goal all along has been to win the SEC Tournament, then the NCAA tournament. I believe we have a good shot at both."
The 11th-ranked Vols started rolling from the start, winning the first two completed doubles matches by identical 8-2 scores to take the doubles point. The 12th-ranked tandem of Adam Carey and Mark Parsons started things out winning their third doubles match in a row. They defeated Kentucky’s Edo Bowano and Karim Benmansour in the No. 2 match. The duo Paul Podbury and Mario Toledo then clinched the point with a victory over Johan Grunditz and Reven Stephens in the No. 1 match.
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| Paul Podbury |
The Vols kept it going against the Wildcats (7-11, 1-4 SEC) in singles, winning the first three completed matches to get the victory. The Vols were led by senior Mark Parsons, who stopped a six-match losing streak against No. 49 Edo Bowano. The 80th-ranked Parsons was impressive in defeating Bowano 6-1, 6-2.
"Mark (Parsons) definitely gets the game ball today," Fancutt said. "That’s one in row for him. Mark is a good player and he played today like the leader we need for him to be. We will definitely be counting heavily on Mark as we get deeper into the season."
Other singles winners for the Vols included No. 74 Podbury in the No. 5 match and No. 33 Peter Handoyo in the No. 3 match. Podbury defeated Kentucky’s Pousette for his 9th win in 11 matches. Handoyo clinched the match for the Vols with a 6-3, 7-6(3) win over Matthew Emery. The win marked Handoyo’s eighth in a row and continued his undefeated record in dual matches this season.
Next up for the Vol netters is a match with 15th-ranked Auburn Friday at the Varsity Courts on the UT campus starting at 2 p.m. The Tigers come into the match with a 9-3 record overall and 3-1 in SEC play. The Tigers latest victim was No. 26 LSU, who defeated Tennessee last Saturday.
"Auburn has probably played us as tough the past few years as anybody," Fancutt said. "They always raise their game against us. They have a very good team and Auburn is always a big match anyway. So we will be expecting a battle Friday."
Auburn boasts two ranked singles players in No. 35 Tiago Ruffoni and No. 83 Georges Matijasevic. The duo also pairs up to form the nation’s fourth-ranked doubles tandem. Admission to the match will be free.
Tennessee 4, Kentucky 0
| Doubles | |
| No. 1 | Podbury/ Toledo (UT) def. Grunditz/ Stephens (UK) 8-2 |
| No. 2 | (12) Carey/ Parsons (UT) def. Bowano/ Benmansour (UK) 8-2 |
| No. 3 | Rea/ Handoyo (UT) vs. Emery/ Pousette (UK) DNF |
| Singles | |
| No. 1 | (80) Mark Parsons (UT) def. (49) Edo Bowano (UK) 6-1, 6-2 |
| No. 2 | (44)Adam Carey (UT) vs. Karim Benmansour (UK) DNF |
| No. 3 | (33) Peter Handoyo def. Matthew Emery (UK) 6-3, 7-6(3) |
| No. 4 | (62) Mario Toledo (UT) vs. Johan Grunditz (UK) DNF |
| No. 5 | (74) Paul Podbury(UT) def. Gustav Pousette (UK) 6-2, 6-3 |
| No. 6 | Simon Rea (UT) vs. Rahim Esmail (UK) DNF |
TENNESSEE RANKED No. 11 IN ITA POLL
The Tennessee tennis team fell five spots to No. 11 this week in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll. The Vols fell to No. 11 after going 1-1 on their road swing through Louisiana last week, which included a win over No. 43 Tulane 4-3 and a loss to No. 17 LSU 4-1. UCLA remained atop the ITA poll for the sixth straight week.
