Kentucky men’s tennis rallies past Illinois for a spot in NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16

Kentucky’s men’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the third straight year, but the fifth-seeded Wildcats needed a comeback to do so.

UK (26-2) lost the doubles point for the first time in 12 matches and then split the first four singles contests against unseeded Illinois (16-10) before Joshua Lapadat’s victory evened things up Saturday at the Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington.

In the deciding singles match, the Wildcats’ Jack Loutit defeated the Illini’s Oliver Okonkwo 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. In the final set, Loutit was down a break at 2-4 before taking the last four games.

It was the second time this season that Kentucky defeated Illinois 4-3, with the other matchup coming on the road in Champaign.

The Wildcats will next host a super regional against 12-seeded Harvard on Saturday at the Boone Tennis Complex. Harvard defeated Michigan State 4-0 on Saturday.

Other super regional matchups are: 1-seeded Ohio State vs. 16-seeded Mississippi State; 8-seeded Columbia vs. 9-seeded Arizona; 4-seeded TCU vs. 13-seeded Duke; 3-seeded Virginia vs. South Carolina; 6-seeded Wake Forest vs. Stanford; 7-seeded Tennessee vs. 10-seeded Florida State; and 2-seeded Texas vs. 15-seeded Texas A&M.

Kentucky men’s tennis runs winning streak to 18 in NCAA Tournament-opening sweep

UK men’s tennis awarded No. 5 overall seed in NCAA Tournament and will host this weekend