MADISON, Wis. – Kentucky’s bid for its first national-tennis title fell shy Sunday as top-ranked Stanford, the defending NCAA outdoor and USTA/ITA indoor team champion, defeated the Cats by a 4-0 count in the finals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships at Wisconsin’s Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Sunday’s final marked Kentucky’s first appearance as a team in a national-title match. Kentucky, the youngest team in the tournament with one senior, one junior and six sophomores, made its run to the final on the strength of victories over second-seeded Clemson, 15th-ranked North Carolina and sixth-seeded Duke.
With the score tied at two all at the second doubles position, Stanford’s Amber Liu and Anne Yelsey took control of their match against UK’s Joelle Schwenk and Kim Coventry by winning six of the final seven games for an 8-3 win. Stanford’s Whitney Deason and Leila Hodzic took the first four games against UK’s Lara Maurer and Christine Simpson on their way to an 8-2 victory to clinch the doubles point. Stanford’s Erin Burdette and Alice Barnes led Kentucky’s Sarah Foster and Aibika Kalsarieva by a 7-5 margin at the first singles slot, but the match was suspended after the Cardinal clinched the doubles point.
Stanford maintained its dominance in singles play, as Hodzic, Yelsey and Theresa Logar claimed straight-set singles victories to clinch the match. As a result, the Cardinal extend their win streak to 35 matches.
Kentucky (6-2) heads to Chapel Hill, N.C. next weekend to take on Minnesota and North Carolina.
No. 1 Stanford 4, No. 14 Kentucky 0
Doubles
1. Barnes/Burdette (SU) vs. Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) – 7-5, susp.
2. Liu/Yelsey (SU) def. No. 11 Coventry/Schwenk (UK) – 8-3
3. Deason/Hodzic (SU) def. Maurer/Simpson (UK) – 8-2
Singles
1. Amber Liu (SU) vs. Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) – 6-5, susp.
2. Alice Barnes (SU) vs. Sarah Foster (UK) – 7-5, 2-0, susp.
3. Theresa Logar (SU) def. Kim Coventry (UK) – 6-3, 6-1
4. Whitney Deason (SU) vs. Joelle Schwenk (UK) – 7-6 (4), 1-1, susp.
5. Anne Yelsey (SU) def. Lara Maurer (UK) – 6-1, 6-1
6. Leila Hodzic (SU) def. Danielle Petrisko (UK) – 6-1, 6-2
