Oct. 24, 2009
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team is competing at the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women’s Ohio Valley Championships which began Thursday in Cincinnati, Ohio. Three of Kentucky’s four singles competitors advanced through the first round and will face two rounds of matches on Saturday.
Junior Megan Broderick and sophomore Caroline Lilley make up the tournament’s No. 2 seed. The duo earned a first round bye and then went on to defeat Miami (Ohio) Stephanie Danesis and Brittany Larson, 8-5, on Thursday. During Friday’s Round of 16, the Kentucky tandem found victory again and defeated Courtney Collins and Ashley Murdock of Memphis, 8-6. Broderick and Lilley are set to face No. 7 seeded Maria Sorbello and Kata Szekely who hail from Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee.
UK’s junior Lauren Meier and sophomore Minnette Pienaar also participated in doubles. The pair grabbed an 8-4 win over Cincinnati’s own Caitlyn O’Gara and Ksenia Slyncko. But the Cats’ run was cut short by the No. 6 seeded Jennifer Rabot and Michelle Sammons of Purdue, 8-4.
Six seeded teams remain in competition from the original eight, four of which share the same bracket as Broderick and Lilley. The top three are still in contention with seeds five, seven and eight close behind. The two unseeded duos will play each other Saturday to reach the seminfinals.
In singles action, only one match was played today. Three out of four members from the Wildcat team earned wins. Pienaar defeated her opponent in a wild three-set match taking a 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 decision over the No. 9 seed, Anastasia Dracheva of Miami. She will face Vanderbilt’s Hannah Blatt at 9 a.m. ET tomorrow. Broderick is the No. 5 seed and remained on top after knocking out Cara Wald from the RedHawks, 6-1, 6-2. In order to advance further, she must defeat UC’s Slyncko. Lilley took on UM’s Larson shortly after their tango in doubles and nabbed a 6-1, 7-5 victory. The Kentucky sophomore will see Keilly Ulery of Vanderbilt, the No. 15 seed, in the Round of 32.
The 2009 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, the nation’s premier collegiate indoor tennis tournament, is the second of three national championship events for college tennis this season. The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships feature a 32-player singles field and 16-team doubles field for men and women, including: qualifiers from these Wilson/ITA Regional Championships held across the country, the ITA National Small College champions, and top performers from the ITA All-American Championships and at-large wild card selections made by the ITA National Tournament Committee. Overall, more than 7,000 players from nearly 600 schools participate annually in the ITA Regional and National Intercollegiate Championships.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis, the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit presented by the USTA, and the Campbell/ITA Rankings for men’s and women’s tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership, and sportsmanship. The official ITA website is www.itatennis.com.
The four-day tournament is hosted by the Western Tennis and Fitness Club in Western Hills. The singles finalists and doubles champion from this event will earn spots in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, which run from Nov. 5-8, hosted by Yale University in New Haven, Conn. Admission is free and play will begin each day at 9 a.m. and continue throughout the day. Singles finals are set to begin on Monday morning.
To get the most up-to-date information on your Kentucky Wildcat women’s tennis team visit www.ukathletics.com.
