Kentucky Punches Ticket to ITA Nationals with 4-1 Win Over Notre Dame

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats (6-0) secured their bid to the 2023 ITA Nationwide Indoor Championships on Saturday night, defeating Notre Dame (5-2) within the Lexington Regional Last on the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Middle, 4-1.

This marks the second straight season by which the Wildcats have certified for Indoor Nationals. Final yr, the Cats beat USC within the spherical of 16 earlier than falling in a detailed contest to Baylor within the quarterfinals. This yr’s occasion shall be hosted by the College of Illinois in Chicago, Feb. 16-19.

The Cats had been compelled to play from behind for the primary time this season after dropping the doubles level. UK’s Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer struck first at third doubles with a snug 6-1 win, however Notre Dame quickly leveled issues with a 6-3 end result on courtroom one from their prime group of Sebastian Dominko and Connor Fu. A good set at second doubles ended with a tiebreak victory for Notre Dame, giving the guests the early edge.

UK would reply in singles play, taking the primary 4 matches to solidify the win. No. 4 singles Taha Baadi was the primary to complete, prevailing over Fu, 7-6 (5), 6-2 to place Kentucky on the board. Moments later, the Cats grabbed two extra matches as Lapadat and Alafia Ayeni notched wins in speedy succession. Lapadat remained unbeaten on the yr in singles play, beating The Preventing Irish’s Addy Vashistha, 6-2, 6-3, whereas Ayeni dispatched Matt Che in straight units, 6-4, 6-4.

Because the no. 5 and no. 6 singles took to the courts for warmups, Kentucky’s Liam Draxl was locked in a three-set battle on courtroom one with the Notre Dame freshman, Dominko. After falling within the opening set, 6-2, Draxl dug deep to assert set quantity two in a tiebreaker, 7-6(5). The senior captain ultimately wore his opponent down in set three, profitable, 6-1 to seal the group victory. Each Charlelie Cosnet (no. 5) and Mercer (no. 6) led of their opening units on the time the match was referred to as.

“The followers type of carried for it for us, we had a full home at this time in order that was nice,” Ayeni mentioned. “We did drop the doubles level. Credit score to Notre Dame, they got here out firing. They’d a extremely good prime of their lineup. I had a troublesome match, Drax[l] had a troublesome match, however I believe ultimately we type of fought via.  Our coaching took over and that’s what makes Cats, Cats.”

The Wildcats shall be off till Feb. 3 when the group makes its first street journey of the season to tackle No. 1 UVA in a rematch of final yr’s NCAA Nationwide Championship. Match time is ready for five p.m. in Charlottesville.

Outcomes

Doubles

Court docket 1: Dominko/Fu (ND) def. Draxl/Ayeni (UK) – 6-3

Court docket 2: Che/Zhang (ND) def. LeBlanc/Weekes (UK) – 7-6 (1)

Court docket 3: Lapadat/Mercer (UK) def. Halpin/Lee (ND) – 6-1

Order of end: 3, 1, 2

Singles

Court docket 1: Liam Draxl (UK) def. Sebastian Dominko (ND) – 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1

Court docket 2: Alafia Ayeni (UK) def. Matt Che (ND) – 6-4, 6-4

Court docket 3: Joshua Lapadat (UK) def. Addy Vashistha (ND) – 6-2, 6-3

Court docket 4: Taha Baadi (UK) def. Connor Fu (ND) – 7-6 (5), 6-2

Court docket 5: Charlelie Cosnet (UK) vs. Yu Zhang (ND) – 3-1 (unfinished)

Court docket 6: JJ Mercer (UK) vs. Jameson Corsillo (ND) – 5-0 (unfinished)

Order of end: 4, 3, 2, 1

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