March 17, 2002
Lexington, Ky. – The 11th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team (12-4) pulled out another pivotal Southeastern Conference victory on Sunday, Mar. 17 with a 4-3 win over 22nd-ranked South Carolina. The Wildcats’ narrow defeat of the Gamecocks (11-3) marked the first time UK has taken the annual contest since 1994.
“Last year we were so close to getting a win and they beat us 4-3,” senior Lauren Rookledge said. “Today, we knew we get a win and came out and fighting hard to get it.”
The Wildcats took the early advantage by winning two of three doubles matches. UK claimed the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. It was Rookledge, along with partner Leigh Bradwell, who came up with an 8-6 upset of 32nd-ranked Lynn-Yin Tan and Jodi Kenoyer to clinch the opening point and a 1-0 lead.
After a quick Gamecock singles win, UK found itself down the first set on three courts and the score knotted at 1-1. Junior Amy Trefethen and Rookledge responded. Both Trefethen and Rookledge battled back from opening-set losses to defeat their South Carolina opponents and leave the Cats one match away from a crucial SEC victory.
With the final two matches getting underway, the Cats had reclaimed the lead. However, a loss on court five knotted the score yet again and left UK no breathing room. Junior Leigh Bradwell answered for the Cats, using an overpowering serve and strong net play to defeat the Gamecocks’ Tamara Sutton and clinch UK’s third straight SEC win.
“After watching Lauren and Amy fight back and put this team in a position to win, I knew that I needed to win,” Bradwell said. “I think we showed a lot of character today. This performance is indicative of what this team is about”
“Leigh really gave an amazing performance today,” Trefethen said. “She was mentally tough and determined to get us a win. This team proved to itself that it can perform at an extremely high level. We needed this win and we did what it took to make it happen.”
The Cats will take some time off before resuming SEC play on Mar. 29 when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to battle the Arkansas Razorbacks.
AgateUK 4, USC 3Singles1. #88 Katarina Markovski (USC) def. #26 Carolina Mayorga (UK), 6-3, 6-22. Jen Radman (USC) def. #41 Sarah Witten (UK), 7-6, 5-7, 6-43. #97 Lauren Rookledge (UK) def. Kathy Boyanovich (USC), 1-6, 6-2, 6-44. Amy Trefethen (UK) def. Lynn-Yin Tan (USC), 2-6, 6-4, 6-35. Jodi Kenoyer (USC) def. Jill Buckley (UK), 6-3, 6-36. Leigh Bradwell (UK) def. Tamara Sutton (USC), 6-2, 6-2Doubles1. Radman/Boyanovich (USC def. #4 Witten/Mayorga (UK), 8-52. Bradwell/Rookledge (UK) def. Tan/Kenoyer (USC), 8-63. Trefethen/Jill Buckley (UK) def. Markovski/Suzuki (USC), 8-3
