MEN’S TENNIS CENTRAL: Kentucky

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Looking to close out the regular season strong, the No. 15 Tennessee men's tennis team travels north on Sunday to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington.

The match, which is the regular season finale, is slated to start at 1 p.m. from the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.

The Vols enter the match as winners of their last six which includes victories over five SEC opponents. UT continued its winning streak on Friday as it defeated No. 30 Vanderbilt, 5-2. Tennessee had to rally twice in the match as it lost the doubles point to fall behind 1-0 and then fell behind 2-1 after the first two singles matches.

The Vols would not be denied though as they swept the remaining singles matches to earn UT's first win over the Commodores in five seasons.

STODDER LEADS THE WAY: Senior Timo Stodder has played at the number one position all year long for Tennessee and has turned up the heat in the last month of the season. Stodder has won six consecutive matches, with five wins over ranked opponents, and each win has been in two sets. The Berlin, Germany native is 12-6 in dual matches and has a 9-3 mark in SEC play.

For the year, he is 19-8 and has improved his career win total to 91 which ties him with Paul Podbury for 13th all-time in program history.

SEC TOURNAMENT SEEDING: After Friday night's results the Vols are currently fourth in the SEC and would earn a double-bye into the quarterfinals on Friday where they would play the winner of the No. 5 vs. No. 12 or 13 matchup. Currently, that would be one of Georgia, Arkansas or Auburn.

The scenario is simple, a win against Kentucky on Sunday would clinch the fourth seed for the Vols while a loss and a win by Georgia would drop UT to the fifth seed. A loss by both teams would still see Tennessee go into the SEC Tournament as the No. 4 team.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Kentucky enters Sunday's showdown off a big win against No. 17 Georgia, 5-2, on Friday night. UK is on a roll as it has won three consecutive matches and is playing at home where the Wildcats are 9-4 on the year.
UK is the 43rd-ranked team in the ITA and is 15-12 overall and 5-6 in the SEC. Ryotaro Matsumura is Kentucky's only ranked singles player, ranked at No. 51 in the ITA.

SERIES HISTORY: The Vols and Wildcats first met in 1930 and while the early years saw long winning streaks for both teams, since the mid-70s it has been a close series with the longest win streak of six-straight belonging to UT.
All-time, Tennessee leads 50-43 and has won the last two meetings, 4-2 and 4-3.

UP NEXT: The 2019 SEC Tournament begins next week in Gainesville, Fla., on Wednesday, April 17. The Vols' first match in the tournament will be on either Thursday or Friday. The tournament bracket will be released by the SEC on Sunday night.

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Players Mentioned

Timo Stodder

University of Tennessee Athletics