Oct. 9, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sophomore Caroline Lilley toppled in-state rival Louisville’s Sarah Miller in the first round of tournament play Friday morning at the Kentucky Invitational. She will advance to play Sona Novakova of Armstrong Atlantic State Saturday at 9 a.m. on the courts at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Lilley seemed to have the upper hand most of the match for a solid 6-2, 6-3 victory. The Portland, Ore., native paired with fellow Wildcat Minnette Pienaar in doubles action. The duo earned a tight win over UofL’s Mandy Brown and Miller having to win in the tie-break, 9-8(4). Lilley and Pienaar wouldn’t be lucky enough for a repeat during their second doubles match. They faced Penn State’s Petra Januskova and Lauren McCarthy. Kentucky again took the match to a tie-break but fell 9-8(5).
Pienaar had also played in singles. She dropped a heart breaking three-set match to Abilene Christian’s Jaclyn Walker in the first round. After going down 6-0 in the first set, Pienaar fought back and took the second 6-1. After the split the duo remained close but Walker came out on top to take the deciding set, 6-4. Pienaar will face East Tennessee State’s Andra Voinea in the consolation round tomorrow at 9 a.m.
The competition at the Invitational is tough; of the 12 participating schools, six finished the 2009 regular season in the top 40 of the Campbell’s/ITA College Tennis rankings. Michigan leads the pack at No. 18 while Vanderbilt and Kentucky are close behind at No. 22 and 25, respectively. Virginia files in at No. 28, Illinois at No. 33 and Ohio State at No. 37. Two top Division II institutions will also be present, Armstrong Atlantic State University and Abilene Christian University. AASU recently claimed the DII title in 2009 and ACU is ranked top-six in the division.
Rounding out the list of participants are Penn State from the Big Ten conference, UK’s in-state rival Louisville of the Big East, East Tennessee State from the Atlantic Sun and Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley Conference.
For complete tournament information and to get the most up-to-date information on your Kentucky Wildcat women’s tennis team visit www.ukathletics.com.
