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<B>Cats spilt weekend home matches</B><P>
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<FONT SIZE=4><B>By Dave Gorman</B><BR></FONT>Staff Writer
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You win some, you lose some.<P>
That pretty much sums up the final chapter of the UK men's tennis team's spring season.The No. 5 Wildcats upset No. 2 Georgia in Athens on Friday night 4-3. It was another amazing, head-turning victory for UK in addition to their wins over No. 1 Stanford and No. 6 Pepperdine earlier this season. UK also was getting revenge for their loss to Georgia in the semifinals of the National Team Indoor Tennis Championships in Louisville.
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"We've had a great year. I feel that our team has competed hard all year," UK coach Dennis Emery said, looking back on the season.
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"This win over Georgia has been one of highlights of my coaching career," he said.
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Early in the match things looked grim for UK as they fell behind 1-0 after the Bulldogs shut them out in doubles. Fighting back, the Cats won the top four singles matches to pull off the upset.
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No. 5-ranked Cedric Kauffmann lived up to his billing when he clinched the match by topping No. 4-ranked John Roddick 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Ludde Sundin, No. 15, wiped his hands with No. 63-ranked Steve Baldas 6-2, 6-2 while freshman Carlos Drada defeated No. 72-ranked Kevin Sessions 6-2, 6-1.
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No. 95-ranked Marcus Fluitt helped further celebrate the upset, party dismissing No. 9-ranked Eddie Jacques, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.
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The Georgia match was the sixth UK played in 12 days. The last three matches were road trips.
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"It's tiring, but we're in great shape," Fluitt said. " I think that is what helped us in our win over Georgia."
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<FONT SIZE=4><B>No. 5 UK falls to Ole Miss</B></FONT>
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On Sunday the Cats lost their last match of the season at home to Ole Miss at the Boone Tennis Center, a.k.a. "Da Boone Barn." It was the end of a long stretch of matches with not many days of rest for UK.
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Kauffmann and Sundin started things off well with their win over No. 3 Sebastien Dechaunac and Robert Abendroth 9-8 (5). After that match things went downhill as Ole Miss won the remaining two matches. Fluitt and Dan Spaner fell to Johan Landsberg and Martin Landsberg 8-5. Drada and Ariel Gaitan lost their match as well, and that was all she wrote as UK lost the top four singles matches.
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"We are still confident despite the losing today," Kauffmann said. "We will probably see them in the tournament; we definitely want to play them again."
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<FONT SIZE=4><B>Postseason outlook</B></FONT>
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As the Southeastern Conference Tournament gets under way this week, and with the NCAA Tournament coming up in early May, UK's Sundin is confident about their chances.
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"We really know that we can beat anyone in the country," he said. "We've proved that we can beat anyone, anywhere - indoor, outdoor; it doesn't matter."
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