Kentucky newcomers Sarah Foster, Aibika Kalsarieva and Lara Maurer earned spots in three of the four flight finals Saturday at the Kentucky Fall Classic at UK’s Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Foster found her way to the finals of the “white” flight with a 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 triumph over Notre Dame’s Christian Thompson. Foster will take on Notre Dame’s Kristina Stastny in Sunday’s final. UK Coach Mark Guilbeau is thrilled with the progress of the former Kentucky state high school champion.
“Sarah has three great wins in two days, and her win this morning was probably the biggest of her career. She’s playing at such a steady, consistent level, and it’s exciting to see her playing as well as she is at such an early stage of her career,” Guilbeau said.
Junior college-transfer Aibika Kalsarieva earned a spot in the “blue” flight final with an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory over Notre Dame’s Lauren Connelly. Her Sunday match against Notre Dame’s Catrina Thompson marks the second time in two weeks she’s made her way to the finals of a singles bracket.
“As a team and as a staff, we’re so impressed with Aibika’s commitment to a higher level of play, offensively. She’s been exciting for us to watch,” Guilbeau said.
With a 6-4, 6-3 win over Ohio State’s Lindsey Adams, freshman Lara Maurer earned a berth in the “green” flight final Sunday against Ohio State’s Anna Volberg.
“This is Lara’s second great weekend and she also had three great wins this time out. She’s making quick progress. Lara has used her power and consistent level of play to her benefit, and we’ve seen a lot of good things, as a result,” Guilbeau said.
Junior Danielle Petrisko dropped a hard-fought three-set match to Lille Nzudie of Marshall, but a timely victory in Friday’s competition has Guilbeau seeing great things for the native Floridian.
“Danielle has displayed a belief in a new level of tennis, and it’s really exciting to see her competing with such enthusiasm,” Guilbeau said.
Guilbeau also likes what he sees from freshmen Joelle Schwenk and Caroline Winebrenner.
“Joelle had a rough match yesterday, but she showed some character in fighting back today,” Guilbeau said. “Caroline is improving and has earned some great singles and doubles experience this weekend.
Several of the same Wildcats who achieved singles success Saturday found similar good fortunes in doubles play. Foster and Kalsarieva teamed up for an 8-4 win over Notre Dame’s Sarah Jane Connelly and Kristina Stastny. In the “blue” flight final, the Kentucky pair came up just short, falling to Megan Muth and Amy Wei of William & Mary in a tiebreaker. The Kentucky pairs of Petrisko-Winebrenner and Maurer-Schwenk also split pairs of doubles matches Saturday.
Sunday’s final day of competition begins at 9 a.m. EDT at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
AGATE:
Key: UK – Kentucky; ND – Notre Dame; W&M – William & Mary; PU – Purdue; OSU – Ohio State; AC – Abilene Christian; MTSU – Middle Tennessee State; MU – Marshall
Blue Flight Singles — Semifinals East
Catrina Thompson, ND d. Megan Muth, W&M 6-1; 3-6; 6-1Aibika Kalsarieva, UK d. Lauren Connelly, ND 6-1; 6-2
Blue Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals West
Jennifer Klaschka, MTSU d. Shawna Zuccarini, PU 6-3; 7-6(1)Alice Sukner, MU d. Lindsay Williams, OSU 1-6; 7-5; 6-3
Blue Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals North
Lille Nzudie, MU d. Danielle Petrisko, UK 6-3; 4-6; 7-5Amy Wei, W&M d. Hala Sufi, PU 6-0; 7-5
Blue Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals South
Rachel Taylor, AC d. Erica Fisk, OSU Wo (inj)Kate Boomershine, W&M d. Colleen Reynolds, AC 6-2; 6-1
Red Flight Singles — Semifinals East
Laura McNamara, MTSU d. Caroline Winebrenner, UK, KY 6-2; 6-3Liz Donohue, ND d. Emily Vest, MTSU 6-3; 6-2
Red Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals North
Emily Howard, OSU d. Joy Isreal, AC 6-3; 6-1Lindsay Bryan, OSU d. Alison Tetrick, AC 6-0; 6-0
Red Flight Singles Consolations — Finals SouthWest
Paula Schmidt, PU d. Olivia Hill, MU 6-2; 6-4
Green Flight Singles — Semifinals East
Anna Volberg, OSU d. Kelly Nelson, ND 6-2; 1-6; 6-0Lara Maurer, UK d. Lindsey Adams, OSU 6-4; 6-3
Green Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals West
Holly Asel, MU d. Holly Lindloff, W&M 6-3; 2-6; 6-4Kristen Messmer, OSU d. Ana Maria Cibils, MTSU 6-2; 6-3
Green Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals North
Alex DeGuzman, W&M d. Emily Bombersback, PU 6-1; 6-0Emily Neighbors, ND d. Meghan Skalsky, MU 6-1; 6-3
Green Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals South
Krista Dunbar, W&M d. Katie McLevish, PU 6-2; 6-1
White Flight Singles — Semifinals East
Kristina Stastny, ND d. Alysa Rodriguez, PU 6-4; 7-6(3)Sarah Foster, UK, KY d. Christian Thompson, ND 6-3; 0-6; 6-3
White Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals West
Joelle Schwenk, UK, FL d. Sonia Ruzimovsky, OSU 3-6; 6-2; 6-1Sarah Jane Connelly, ND d. Summer Beesley, AC 6-1; 6-0
White Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals North
Lingda Yang, W&M d. Emily Mowery, W&M 6-4; 5-7; 6-3Lena Sherbakov d. Brittany Reitz, PU Wo (inj)
White Flight Singles Consolations — Semifinals South
Joelle Good, MU d. Ashley Hawk, AC 6-3; 6-2Danielle Hoch, MU d. Meredith Vincent, OSU 6-2; 6-1
Blue Flight Doubles — Semifinals East
Foster S – Kalsarieva A d. Connelly S – Stastny K 8-4Muth M – Wei A d. Nzudie L – Sukner A 8-4
Blue Flight Doubles — Finals East
Muth M – Wei A d. Foster S – Kalsarieva A 9-8(2)
Blue Flight Doubles Consolations — Semifinals North
Boomershine K – Sherbakov L d. Reitz B – Sufi H Wo (inj)Thompson C – Thompson C d. Ruzimovsky S – Williams L 8-4
Blue Flight Doubles Consolations — Finals North
Thompson C – Thompson C d. Boomershine K – Sherbakov L 9-7
Blue Flight Doubles Consolations — Finals NorthEast
Nzudie L – Sukner A d. Connelly S – Stastny K 8-5
Green Flight Doubles — Semifinals East
Petrisko D – Winebrenner C d. Vincent M – Volberg A 9-8(4)Donohue L – Nelson K d. McLevish K – Zuccarini S 8-3
Green Flight Doubles — Finals East
Donohue L – Nelson K d. Petrisko D – Winebrenner C 8-1
Green Flight Doubles Consolations — Semifinals North
Cibils A – McNamara L d. Beesley S – Lindloff H 8-3Asel H – Skalsky M d. DeGuzman A – Dunbar K 8-3
Green Flight Doubles Consolations — Finals North
Cibils A – McNamara L d. Asel H – Skalsky M 8-1
Green Flight Doubles Consolations — Finals NorthWest
DeGuzman A – Dunbar K d. Beesley S – Lindloff H 9-7
Green Flight Doubles Consolations — Finals NorthEast
McLevish K – Zuccarini S d. Vincent M – Volberg A 8-1
Red Flight Doubles — Semifinals East
Hill O – Vest E d. Bombersback E – Schmidt P 8-4Bryan L – Howard E d. Isreal J – Yarbrough L 9-7
Red Flight Doubles — Finals East
Bryan L – Howard E d. Hill O – Vest E 8-2
White Flight Doubles — Semifinals East
Burgarello A – Rodriguez A d. Connelly L – Neighbors E 8-2Maurer L – Schwenk J d. Mowery E – Yang L 8-0
White Flight Doubles — Finals East
Maurer L – Schwenk J d. Burgarello A – Rodriguez A 8-6
White Flight Doubles Consolations — Semifinals North
Klaschka J – Williams J d. Reynolds C – Taylor R 8-6Good J – Hoch D d. Adams L – Messmer K 9-7
White Flight Doubles Consolations — Finals North
Good J – Hoch D d. Klaschka J – Williams J 8-1
White Flight Doubles Consolations — Finals NorthWest
Adams L – Messmer K d. Reynolds C – Taylor R 8-3
White Flight Doubles Consolations — Finals NorthEast
Connelly L – Neighbors E d. Mowery E – Yang L 8-2
End of Tournament Press List (Oct 4)
