No. 41 Arkansas Splits Road Doubleheader to Close Regular Season

CINCINNATI – The No. 41 Arkansas men’s tennis team (17-13, 4-10) split its road doubleheader on Sunday to close out the regular season, falling 4-0 to No. 36 Kentucky (16-10, 7-7) before rebounding with a 4-0 victory over Xavier (9-12).

The Wildcats obtained the early advantage in the first match with a win in the top spot as No. 18 Loutit/Stephenson defeated No. 19 Connor Smillie and Jakub Vrba, 6-1. Kentucky claimed the doubles point after a 6-3 victory from Ghibaudo/Weekes over Brendan Boland and Lukas Palovic on court three. Božo Barun and Benni Emesz’s match versus Breysach/Cosnet of the Wildcats went unfinished with the score tied 5-5.

Kentucky carried its momentum into singles play, winning the first set on four courts. On court two, No. 50 Loutit grabbed a straight-set victory against Barun, while Vrba dropped his match to No. 93 Weekes in straight sets at the No. 3 position. The Wildcats clinched the match on court four as Cosnet bested Emesz in three sets, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.

At the No. 5 position, Arthur Bellegy fought back to force a third set versus Stephenson before his match went unfinished. No. 48 Palovic and Smillie both fell 3-6 in the first set on courts one and six, respectively, and pushed their matches to second-set tiebreaks as the match concluded.

The Razorbacks responded by earning the doubles point in the second match against Xavier. Jean-Baptiste Badon and Bellegy teamed up to collect a 6-2 win over Temming/Totorica at the No. 3 position, while the Musketeers answered with a 7-5 victory from Gonzalez/Kotarski against Boland and Palovic on court two. The doubles point came down to the top spot as No. 19 Smillie and Vrba clinched the point with a narrow 7-6 (6) win over Cahill/Mosberger.

In singles play, Arkansas continued to roll by securing the first set on five courts. At the No. 2 position, Vrba improved to 13-5 this dual season after taking down Temming, 6-0, 6-3, while Emesz defeated Gonzalez on court three 6-2, 6-0 for his ninth victory this spring. The Razorbacks sealed the win at the top spot as Barun picked up his 10th dual singles victory this year following a 6-4, 6-0 win against Cahill.

Bellegy and Boland each acquired first-set victories on courts four and five, respectively, with Boland leading 4-2 in the second set while Bellegy trailed 2-5 before their matches went unfinished. Badon fell in the opening set 4-6 and was tied 1-1 in the next set as his match was abandoned on court six.

The Hogs will travel to Columbia, S.C. for the SEC Men’s Tennis Tournament from April 16-20. Brackets for the tournament will be released tomorrow following the conclusion of all matches.