The No. 20 Kentucky women?s tennis team saw its great season end Thursday as No. 2 Notre Dame defeated the Cats 4-0 in the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament in Stanford, Calif. With the loss, the Cats conclude their season with a 19-10 record while the Fighting Irish improve to 27-1 on the season and will face the Miami Hurricanes in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The match got off to a rough start for the Wildcats as they lost the critical doubles point to fall behind 1-0. The Fighting Irish took the first match at No. 3 when Lauren Connelly and Kristina Stastny defeated Kentucky?s duo of senior Danielle Petrisko and junior Caroline Winebrenner 8-5. Kentucky?s team led 5-2 early before Connelly and Stastny rallied to win six straight games. At the No. 2 slot, Notre Dame?s Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft clinched the pointed when they turned back UK?s tandem of Lara Maurer and Joelle Schwenk 8-6. Maurer and Schwenk fought hard in a spirited contest that was tied at 6-6 before their 10-match winning streak came to an end. The Irish have now won the doubles point in all 28 of their matches this season.
Notre Dame continued its strong showing in singles competition by taking three straight to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Irish went up 2-0 after winning their first singles match at No. 4. Freshman Kelcy Tefft won her seventh match in a row as she defeated Petrisko 6-1, 6-2. The loss ended the career for the fifth-year senior from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The two-time second team All-Southeastern Conference performer finished her UK singles career with 83 victories.
Kentucky fell behind 3-0 when freshman Jessica Giuggioli lost in straight sets at the No. 6 spot. Notre Dame?s Katie Potts improved her dual match record to 23-2 as she swept Giuggioli 6-3, 6-2. The loss ended a remarkable season for the Torino, Italy, native who was named second team All-SEC after winning 11 conference matches.
Notre Dame clinched the match to move on to the quarterfinals at No. 2 when No. 113 Christian Thompson defeated Maurer 6-3, 6-1.
?I am grateful to be a part of our women’s tennis program,? head coach Carlos Drada said. ?This year has been a great learning experience for all of the people involved. I want to congratulate our players for their pride in our program and I want to wish the best to our senior Danielle Petrisko during her life after graduation. After today, we will improve as a program and we will be eager to return to competition next year.
?I want to thank Mr. Barnhart and all the people in the athletic department for their positive involvement with our team. I also want to thank (assistant coach) David Vest, (strength coach) Jeff Sydes and the rest of the support staff for their dedication during this whole year.
While the Cats? run at the NCAA team championships ends, the sights already turn to 2006-07 in what should be another successful season. The Cats will return six of their top seven players and will have a four person senior class that has been to the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons.
Though the team?s season ended, Kentucky?s Kim Coventry and Carolina Escamilla will continue to compete for individual championships next week. Following the conclusion of the team championships on Monday, Coventry will compete for the national singles title as well as team with Escamilla in the 32-team doubles field on May 24, in Stanford, Calif. Fans can check ukathletics.com for the latest UK tennis information throughout the postseason.
Taube Stadium Courts
Kentucky vs. No. 2 Notre Dame
Doubles
1. Kim Coventry and Carolina Escamilla-27 (K) led Catrina Thompson and Christian Thompson-5 (ND), 8-7 — DNF
2. Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft (ND) Lara Maurer and Joelle Schwenk (K), 8-6
3. Lauren Connelly and Kristina Stastny (ND) def. Danielle Petrisko and Caroline Winebrenner (K), 8-5
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles
1. Kim Coventry-49 (K) led Catrina Thompson-30 (ND), 7-6, 3-2 — DNF
2. Christian Thompson-113 (ND) def. Lara Maurer (K), 6-3, 6-1
3. Brook Buck-87 (ND) led Joelle Schwenk (K), 6-4, 2-0 — DNF
4 Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. Danielle Petrisko (K), 6-1, 6-2
5. Carolina Escamilla (K) led Kristina Stastny (ND), 6-2, 5-5 — DNF
6. Katie Potts (ND) def. Jessica Guiggioli (K), 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 6, 2
