April 16, 2000

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 35th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis teamovercame a 4-2 deficit by winning all three doubles contests to beat the36th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs 5-4 on Sunday at the Hilary J. BooneTennis Complex.

Sophomore Carolina Mayorga beat Ivana Belancic on court 1 to give the Catsone win, while Lauren Rookledge, who has compiled a 9-2 record since March10, notched UK’s only other singles win on court 4 against Claudia Oliveira.

Down 4-2 with only three doubles matches left to be played, the Wildcatsresponded. Brooke Skeen and Leigh Bradwell quickly disposed of theiropponents 8-2. Rookledge teamed with Jill Buckley to tie the match atfour, with an 8-5 come-from-behind win on court 3. This left the match inthe hands of UK’s top and the nation’s 31st-ranked doubles pair of Mayorgaand Sarah Witten. The duo started strong taking a 3-0 lead, only to seethat lead diminish before taking the victory 8-5.

“This was a great match to end our season,” coach Mark Guilbeau said.”This was a very competitive match. Mississippi State is a good team, andthey have had a great season. I was very happy with our composure, the teamreally deserved this win.”

The Cats end their season 12-9 and will travel to Oxford, Miss., onWednesday, April 19 for the Southeastern Conference Championship. In thefirst round, UK, who finished ninth in the SEC will match up with LSU TheTigers defeated the Cats 6-3 in Baton Rouge earlier this season. The matchis set to begin at 3:30 p.m. CDT, with the winner going on to playtop-seeded Georgia.

Agate:UK 5, MSU 4Singles

1. Carolina Mayorga, UK def. Ivana Belancic, MSU       6-1, 1-6, 6-42. Amelie Detriviere, MSU def. Brooke Skeen (#97), UK  7-6, 6-13. Carole Soubis, MSU def. Sarah Witten, UK            6-4, 6-44. Lauren Rookledge, UK def. Claudia Oliveria, MSU     6-3, 7-65. Andrea Lord, MSU def. Jill Buckley, UK              6-3, 6-46. Anca Vasiloaica, MSU def. Amy Trefethen, UK         6-3, 6-4

Doubles

1. Mayorga/Witten (#31), UK def. Soubis/Sloan, MSU     8-52. Skeen/Bradwell, UK def. Detriviere/Oliveira, MSU    8-23. Rookledge/Buckley, UK def. Lord/Belancic, MSU       8-5