April 20, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 10th-seeded Kentucky women’s tennis team will head down Interstate-75 to Knoxville, Tenn., to face seventh-seeded LSU on Thursday in the 2011 Southeastern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament, hosted by the University of Tennessee. The match will be held at the Dr. Robert L. Barksdale Tennis Stadium at 6 p.m. ET.
Kentucky and LSU are familiar with each other, as the two schools competed against one another just 10 days ago in Baton Rouge, La., with the Tigers coming out victorious, 5-2.
Kentucky sophomore Jessica Stiles and freshman Caitlin McGraw each earned victories in singles play against LSU earlier this year. Stiles took down LSU’s Olivia Howlett 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 singles and McGraw earned a victory over Ebie Wilson after Wilson retired in the second set.
LSU (11-12, 5-6 SEC) closed out its regular season with a 4-3 loss to No. 19 Arkansas on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. Wilson, who didn’t play against Arkansas on Saturday due to injury, leads LSU with 12 victories in singles play. Kaitlin Burns and Whitney Wolf are the highest ranked doubles tandem for LSU, checking in at No. 87 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
Stiles leads the Cats with 10 singles victories on the season, including four conference wins. The Wyckoff, N.J., native has won each of her past two matches, including a 6-0, 6-0 win over Vanderbilt’s Jackie Wu at No. 2 singles on Saturday.
Freshman Khristina Blajkevitch and senior Megan Broderick each have nine singles victories on the season. Blakjevitch also leads the Cats with six victories in conference play. The Victoria, Canada, native has won five of her last eight singles matches. Broderick, a Tampa, Fla., native, enters Thursday’s match coming off a thrilling comeback victory on Saturday over No. 76 Alex Leatu of Vanderbilt 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The winner of Thursday’s match will play tournament host Tennessee, the No. 2 seed, on Friday at 6 p.m. Florida earned the tournament’s No. 1 seed after finishing 11-0 in conference play for the second consecutive season.
Check out UKathletics.com for all Kentucky women’s tennis news.
