MADISON, Wis. ? After making history on day one of the 2005 USTA/ITA Women?s National Team Indoor Championships, No. 14 Kentucky took its historical feat a step further in Saturday?s quarterfinals. As a result of Kentucky?s dominant 5-2 win over No. 15 North Carolina, UK will make its first appearance in the semifinals of the national-championship event, considered the indoor equivalent of the NCAA outdoor championships held every May. Kentucky continues its historic run after becoming the first team to ever eliminate the No. 2 seed in the opening round of the tournament by way of Thursday?s 5-2 victory over No. 3 Clemson, a 2004 NCAA semifinalist.
Kentucky opened by taking a heavily-contested doubles point. The Cats opened with an easy victory at No. 1 as the sixth-ranked tandem of senior Aibika Kalsarieva and sophomore Sarah Foster defeated UNC?s 14th-ranked pair of Aniela Mojzis and Kendall Cline, 8-1. At the third doubles position, UK sophomores Lara Maurer and North Carolina-native Christine Simpson opened a 6-3 lead before the Tar Heels evened the score at six. UK held serve and broke UNC in the following game to edge out the Tar Heels, 8-6, and clinch the doubles point. Seconds later, after North Carolina saved three match points at the second doubles position, Kentucky?s Kim Coventry, paired with Joelle Schwenk, struck a well-placed serve on which UNC could only manage a weak return to give UK the doubles sweep.
Kentucky quickly added to its tally in singles play. A day after suffering a tough three-set defeat in Thursday?s Wildcat victory, junior Danielle Petrisko came out with a vengeance at the sixth singles slot. After rebounding from a 5-4 first-set deficit, Petrisko forced a tiebreaker, which she captured, 7-1. Petrisko took control in the second set, winning 6-1 to give Kentucky a 2-0 lead.
UK?s Schwenk rebounded from even greater adversity at the fourth singles position. Trailing 4-0 in the first set, Schwenk stormed back to tie the set at four. After UNC?s Caitlin Collins held serve in the ninth game, Schwenk took the final three games for a 7-5 first-set victory. Like Petrisko, Schwenk took over in the second set, giving Kentucky a 3-0 lead with a 6-2 second-set showing.
After dropping the first set to UK?s Foster at No. 2 singles, UNC?s Cline evened the match with a 6-4 second-set win. Cline?s service break of Foster in the third game proved costly, as Cline sliced the Tar Heel deficit to 3-1 with another 6-4 set victory. However, UK?s Coventry claimed a 6-4 opening-set win at No. 3 over UNC?s Sara Anundsen and fought off a service break in the second set to win, 6-3, to clinch the quarterfinal victory for Kentucky.
UK?s Kalsarieva capped the Kentucky scoring with a come-from-behind three-set victory at the first singles position over UNC?s 26th-ranked Mojzis.
?Whenever you are accomplishing new and higher feats with a group, it makes you so happy for them,? Guilbeau said. ?That?s what this is all about, for the kids to reach new levels and experience success that they deserve. It also brings us back to the many strong teams that came before and helped build this program into what it is.
?The most important thing is we?re getting a complete team effort?everyone contributing in every way that they can. It?s just a good feeling when we know that every player that?s out there is going to give their absolute best on every point. I?m so impressed with the belief and confidence that these players have.
?In many instances, they are defeating players that were much higher ranked in junior tennis and perhaps better players in junior tennis. It speaks volumes to their development and even more so of their belief. To be in a new situation like this, we?re obviously going to learn a lot, regardless of the outcome. But, for this team to show that they are willing to listen, communicate, and then go onto the court with a game plan that they believe in, execute and control is so impressive and inspiring.?
The Cats will try to make history, once again, when they take on eighth-ranked Duke, the tournament?s sixth seed, at 4 p.m. EST. Live scoring updates will be provided at www.itatennis.com.
No. 14 Kentucky 5, No. 15 North Carolina 2
Doubles
1. No. 6 Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) def. No. 14 Mojzis/Cline (UNC) ? 8-1
2. No. 11 Coventry/Schwenk (UK) def. Anundsen/Long (UNC)? 8-6
3. Maurer/Simpson (UK) def. Tansill/Collins (UNC) ? 8-6
Singles
1. No. 7 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. No. 26 Aniela Mojzis (UNC) ? 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 37 Kendall Cline (UNC) def. No. 30 Sarah Foster (UK) ? 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
3. No. 58 Kim Coventry (UK) def. Sara Anundsen (UNC) ? 6-4, 6-3
4. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Caitlin Collins (UNC) ? 7-5, 6-2
5. Jenna Long (UNC) def. Lara Maurer (UK) ? 6-4, 6-3
6. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Charlotte Tansill (UNC) ? 7-6 (1), 6-1
