University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
#19 Kentucky
Vols Finish 2-1 in Friday Tripleheader
April 01, 2016 | Men's Tennis
Photo Gallery 
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee men's tennis team went 2-1 to start the home weekend Friday at Barksdale Stadium.
The Vols (8-12, 0-8) lost the doubles point in a tiebreaker and could not win four courts in singles in a 5-2 loss to No. 19 Kentucky (15-5, 5-3) highlighted by the first top-30 singles win in Luis Valero's career.
After the Kentucky match, the Vols defeated Murray State (2-16) twice by 3-0 scores using an experimental format.
The doubles point against Kentucky came down to the wire as the Vols won on court 3 and the Wildcats answered on court 2. The No. 1 court came down to a tiebreaker where Valero and Jack Schipanski led 3-0 early by eventually lost to Nils Ellefsen and Enzo Wallart 7-6(6).
Five of the six singles matches went to three sets, and Kentucky clinched the match 4-0 via wins by Nils Ellefsen on court 2, Jake Stefanik on court 6 and Enzo Wallert on court 4.
"In the match against Kentucky, again we're right there, just knocking on the door," Tennessee head coach Sam Winterbotham said. "We've just got to find a way to get those last couple of points. We should have got the doubles again. but you have to take the points and we weren't able to convert."
The rest of the matches played out, and Valero earned the highest ranked win of his career, beating No. 26 William Bushamuka 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2. It was Valero's second win over Bushamuka this season and his first SEC win at the No. 1 spot in the lineup.
Srdjan Jakovljevic earned his team-leading fifth SEC win in singles, beating Trey Yates 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 on court 3.
"I thought Luis played his best match of the season," Winterbotham said. "He was really in control of himself, which was super to see. Srdjan fought a really tough match, so I'm glad he was able to get over the line. This league is unforgiving. Either you all show up or you get beat, so our goal now is to all show up."
AGAINST MURRAY STATE: In the first match against Murray State, the teams played four singles and one doubles match simultaneously. Srdjan Jakovljevic and Jack Schipanski teamed up for the first time to win 8-4 in doubles. Preston Touliatos won by retirement and Timo Stodder clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Will True.
The second match was played in a format using three singles and two doubles matches. The Vols won the two doubles matches, including an 8-0 win by Touliatos and Jack Heslin. Schipanski clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Anjan Kashyab.
On Sunday, the Vols will face Austin Peay and Murray State again, beginning at 9 a.m. at Barksdale Stadium.
BOX SCORES
Kentucky 5, Tennessee 2
Singles
1. Luis Valero, UT, def. #26 William Bushamuka, UK, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2
2. Nils Ellefsen, UK, def. Timo Stodder, UT, 7-6(5), 6-3
3. Srdjan Jakovljevic, UT, def. Trey Yates, UK, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3
4. Enzo Wallart, UK, def. Jack Schipanski, UT, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
5. Austin Hussey, UK, def. Preston Touliatos, UT, 7-5, 5-7, [14-12]
6. Jake Stefanik, UK, def. Jack Heslin, UT, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. Wallart/Ellefsen, UK, def. #26 Schipanski/Valero, UT, 7-6(6)
2. Yates/Bushamuka, UK, def. Touliatos/Heslin, 7-5
3. Jakovljevic/Stodder, UT, def. Matsumura/Hussey, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,6,4,1,3,5).
Tennessee 3, Murray State 0
1. Timo Stodder, UT, def. Will True, MSU, 6-1, 6-4
2. Preston Touliatos, UT, def. Srdjan Trosic, MSU, 3-0 ret.
3. Jack Heslin, UT, vs. David Hess, MSU, 6-4, 5-2 unf.
4. Sunay Bhat, UT, vs. Javier, MSU, 6-3, 2-2 unf.
5. Jakovljevic/Schipanski, UT, def. Uelzhoeffer/Schrott, MSU, 8-4
Order of Finish: 2,5,1.
Tennessee 3, Murray State 0
1. Srdjan Jakovljevic, UT, vs. Will True, MSU, 6-1, 2-1, unf.
2. Timo Stodder, UT, vs. Lucas Braga, MSU, 6-0, 5-0 unf.
3. Jack Schipanski, UT, def. Anjan Kashyab, MSU, 6-1, 6-0
4. Heslin/Touliatos, UT, def. Uelzhoeffer/Schrott, MSU, 8-0
5. Bhat/Valero, UT, def. Hess/Villar, MSU, 8-3
Order of Finish: 4,5,3.
