The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kentucky
No. 5 Men's Tennis holds off No. 12 Kentucky, 4-2
02.18.2011 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 18, 2011
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SEATTLE - Texas senior Ed Corrie registered a timely service break of Kentucky's third-ranked Eric Quigley and defeated the UK All-American to preserve a 4-2 Longhorns victory over the 12th-ranked Wildcats Friday evening in round one of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Texas advances to Saturday's quarterfinals where it will take on fourth-seeded Ohio State at 5 p.m. Central. Live scoring and video will be available at www.gohuskies.com.
Texas (8-0) claimed matches at the first and second doubles slots to secure the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead. Corrie and UT junior Jean Andersen opened with an 8-4 win at the first slot over Kentucky's Quigley and Brad Cox. UT senior Kellen Damico and freshman David Holiner rallied from a 6-2 deficit and locked up the doubles point with an 8-6 win over Tom Jomby and Alberto Gonzalez at second doubles. The final match at the third slot was suspended.
Kentucky would even the score with a win at second singles, where UT's Andersen fell victim to Kentucky's 70th-ranked Alex Musialek, 6-2, 7-6. The Wildcats' Jomby put Kentucky on top with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over UT sophomore Daniel Whitehead at sixth singles before the Longhorns commenced their rally.
At third singles, UT's Damico dropped the first set to UK's Cox, but Damico took control from there and won the next two sets, 6-3, 6-2 to even the match at two. Texas' Mladenov put the Horns on top for good at fifth singles, where he dealt the Wildcats' 79th-ranked Anthony Rossi a 7-5, 6-3 defeat to give UT a 3-2 lead.
The Corrie-Quigley match at first singles proved to be the deciding point in the Longhorns' favor. Corrie took the first set, 6-3 before Quigley answered to take set two, 6-4. At 4-all in the final set, Corrie fought off several break points and held serve for a 5-4 lead.
Quigley and Corrie held serve in their next two games, resulting in a 6-5 Corrie lead. With Quigley serving 15-40, Corrie managed to track down a big Quigley serve and later forced an error from the Wildcat to register the final service break he needed, as he closed out the final set, 7-5 and nailed down the Texas win. The remaining match at fourth singles was suspended.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
"This was another great college match. This team just shows a lot of resilience out there. We were down at two and three doubles again today, were down 6-2 at No. 2 and fought all the way back to win the match. Our guys at No. 1 doubles just played a terrific match. Ed Corrie and Jean Andersen really had to fight hard to get the doubles point. This team just does not give in, and that has been fun to watch.
"We lost four first sets, but once again, we kept fighting and turned some of those matches around. It was 2-1 Kentucky, but then Kellen Damico and Vasko Mladenov got off of their courts to make it 3-2. Ed Corrie played his best match of the season and was aggressive."
On Ed Corrie's clinching match
"Ed got up a break in the first set and was broken back, but he got a late break in that first set and went on to win. Quigley was able to get it to a third set where every point was really contested. Quigley came out with a great backhand down the line to save a game on a key point. Ed saved several break points late in that set. At 4-all, he was down 15-40 and held serve. He had match point at 5-4, but Quigley hit an ace and saved the game. Ed stayed aggressive in that final game, and he guessed correctly on that last serve from Quigley and hit a perfect return. I'm proud of how he played and competed at the end of that match."
#5 Texas 4, #12 Kentucky 2
ITA National Team Indoor Championship - Round of 16
Seattle Tennis Club - Seattle, Wash.
Doubles - Order of Finish: 1, 2
1 #2 Andersen/Corrie (UT) def. Eric Quigley/Brad Cox (UK) - 8-4
2 Damico/Holiner (UT) def. Tom Jomby/Alberto Gonzalez (UK) - 8-6
3 Mladenov/Whitehead (UT) vs. Musialek/Gomez (UK) - 4-7, susp.
Singles - Order of Finish: 2, 3, 6, 5, 1
1 #91 Ed Corrie (UT) def. #3 Eric Quigley (UK) - 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
2 #70 Alex Musialek (UK) def. #55 Jean Andersen (UT) - 6-2, 7-6
3 #61 Kellen Damico (UT) def. Brad Cox (UK) - 6-7, 6-3, 6-2
4 #97 Ben Chen (UT) vs. Alberto Gonzalez (UK) - 5-7, 6-4, susp.
5 #93 Vasko Mladenov (UT) def. #79 Anthony Rossi (UK) - 7-5, 6-4
6 Tom Jomby (UK) def. Daniel Whitehead (UT) - 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
