April 22, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s tennis team could not pull off its second upset in as many days, falling to the No. 2 seed and the No. 14 team in the country, Tennessee, 4-0, in the Southeastern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament quarterfinals on Friday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Kentucky, which fell to the Lady Vols 6-1 on March 11 of the regular season, entered the match with a lot of momentum after defeating No. 59 LSU 4-3 one day earlier, but could not top host school Tennessee.
Tennessee won at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles, leaving a 6-6 match at No. 2 doubles unfinished with the doubles point already decided. In singles play, Tennessee grabbed wins at Nos. 3-5 to seal the match 4-0.
Senior Megan Broderick, who has won each of her past two singles matches against ranked opponents, led No. 34 Natalie Pluskota 7-6 (2), 1-2 at No. 1 singles, but the match was suspended with the overall match having already been decided. Sophomore Jessica Stiles’ match at No. 2 singles was also left unfinished and freshman Marni Venter trailed in her match at No. 6 singles 0-6, 4-2 when play was stopped.
Kentucky’s loss to Tennessee concludes its 2010-11 season with a 5-20 record and 2-9 mark in conference play. The Cats were 4-6 at home and recorded victories over Mississippi State and Auburn during the SEC regular season, and defeated No. 59 LSU on Thursday in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Kentucky will lose Broderick, who won over 60 matches throughout her collegiate career, in addition to seniors Lauren Meier and Nicole Scates. The Cats willl return six of its top seven players though, including Stiles, Khristina Blajkevitch and Caitlin McGraw, who recorded 11, nine and eight wins, respectively. Kentucky will also return Venter, Cece Witten, Misha Testerman and Meredith Morrow, who are all true freshmen.
Tennessee will face Georgia on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET in the SEC Tournament semifinals. Vanderbilt will face top-seeded Florida in the other semifinal match at 10 a.m.
Check out UKathletics.com for all Kentucky women’s tennis news.
AGATE
Barksdale Stadium
Knoxville, Tenn.
April 22, 2011
No. 14 Tennessee 4, Kentucky 0
Doubles competition:
1) No. 16 Pluskota/Boren (UT) def. Stiles/Blajkevitch (UK) 8-2
2) No. 76 Alda/Sorbello (UT) def. Broderick/Witten (UK) 6-6, DNF
3) Nichols/Meredith (UT) def. Venter/McGraw (UK) 8-2
Singles competition:
1) Megan Broderick (UK) vs. No. 34 Natalie Pluskota (UT) 7-6 (7-2), 1-2, DNF
2) No. 97 Rosalia Alda (UT) vs. Jessica Stiles (UK) 6-4, 3-0, DNF
3) No. 44 Brynn Boren (UT) def. Khristina Blajkevitch (UK) 6-0, 6-3
4) Maria Sorbello (UT) def. Caitlin McGraw (UK) 6-2, 6-1
5) Millie Nichols (UT) def. Misha Testerman (UK) 6-1, 6-3
6) Whitney Wofford (UT) vs. Marni Venter (UK) 6-0, 3-4, DNF
Order of finish:
Doubles: 3, 1*
Singles: 3, 4, 5*
