Vol Tennis Falls To Wildcats, 5-2

Saturday, February 21

Lexington, KY

1:00 p.m. ET

University of Tennessee

Kentucky

February 21, 2026 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tennessee men's tennis team came up short at Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, falling 5-2 in the first conference match of the season.

The Big Orange struggled to find momentum in the opening sets of the match and lost the doubles point to the Cats after dropping courts two and three. Kentucky's Martin Breysach and Charlelie Cosnet defeated Jose Garcia and Alejandro Moreno, 6-1. The duo of Shion Itsusaki and Ethan Muza fought back to even their match at 4-4, but they couldn't get past Nicolas Arseneault and Jaden Weekes, losing 6-4.

The Vols weren't able to find their footing following doubles and failed to capture the next two points. Jose Garcia provided a spark with a three-set winner, coming back after losing the first set, over No. 38 Jack Loutit, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. The Wildcats answered with the winning point on court one after No. 94 Nicolas Arseneault won over No. 58 Alejandro Moreno in a three-set thriller, 6-0, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3.

Freshman Shion Itsusaki picked up his fourth career win in three sets to stay undefeated in singles. It was Itsusaki's first career match that went the distance, as he bested Kentucky's Matt Rankin, 6-2, 2-6, 10-8.

UP NEXT
UT will close out its stretch of two away matches by competing against Vanderbilt on Monday at 2 p.m. ET at the Lummis Family Tennis Center in Nashville.

STAYING PERFECT
Freshman Shion Itsusaki has been a bright spot for the Vols, starting his college career a perfect 4-0 in singles. Itsusaki has only dropped one set out of the nine he has played thus far. That's an 89-percent winning percentage on court six for Tennessee men's tennis.

TAKING THE NEXT STEP
Knoxville native Jose Garcia has truly taken the next step in his sophomore year. Garcia never saw time on singles court two in his first year, but he has gone undefeated (4-0) there this campaign. The sophomore is tied for a team-best 12 singles wins with senior Alejandro Moreno for 2025-26.

RESULTS
Singles

#94 Nicolas Arseneault (UK) def. #58 Alejandro Moreno (UT), 6-0, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3
#16 Eli Stephenson (UK) def. Dragos Cazacu (UT), 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)
Jose Garcia (UT) def. #38 Jack Loutit (UK), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
#91 Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. Jan Kobierski (UT), 6-4, 7-5
Mikael Arseneault (UK) def. Boruch Skierkier (UT), 1-6, 6-2, 12-10
Shion Itsusaki (UT) def. Matt Rankin (UK), 6-2, 2-6, 10-8

Order of Finish: 4,2,3,1,5,6

Doubles

Dragos Cazacu/Piotr Siekanowicz (UT) vs. #23 Jack Loutit/Eli Stephenson (UK), 4-5 unf.
Nicolas Arseneault/Jaden Weekes (UK) def. Shion Itsusaki/Ethan Muza (UT), 6-4
Martin Breysach/Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. Jose Garcia/Alejandro Moreno (UT), 6-1