April 16, 1998
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The first round of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament saw all of the higher-seeded teams advance Thursday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center on the University of Kentucky campus. The 25th-ranked and eighth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats (14-7) defeated LSU 5-2 to advance to the quarterfinal round.
UK’s Massoumeh Emami defeated the Tigers’ Laura Olave 6-4, 6-2, in the No. 1 singles match. UK senior Kathy Herring extended her winning streak in singles to eight matches with a 6-1, 6-4, victory over Jamie Vallotton at No. 3 singles.
The Wildcats’ Christy Sigurski also pulled out a victory at No. 5 singles. After dropping the second set, Sigurski fought back for a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win over LSU’s Fernanda Tsucamoto.
“Christy persevered and survived,” said UK head coach Mark Guilbeau. “It became more of a mental battle than a physical battle.”
UK’s doubles team of Herring and Caroline Kirk clinched the win for the Cats with an 8-1 victory over the LSU duo of Vallotton and Christine Weber. “Our kids know that the No.1 thing is effort,” Guilbeau said. “As a team, we weren’t really concerned with winning or losing. Our main focus was to enjoy the competition, play hard and have fun.”
The Wildcats will now face the undefeated Florida Gators (20-0). Florida, ranked second in the country and seeded first in the tournament, has not lost a match in two seasons, and has won the tournament the last three years. Fifth-seeded Arkansas (18-7) swept Alabama, 6-0. The Lady Razorbacks won four matches in straight sets, with Maria Pavlidou outlasting Jill Breslin 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, in the No. 1 singles match. Arkansas advances to face fourth-seeded Ole Miss at 2 p.m. Friday.
Tennessee, ranked 15th in the country and seeded sixth in the tournament, also swept its opponent, defeating 11th-seeded Auburn, 6-0. The Lady Volunteers won every singles match in straight sets to earn the victory. Manisha Malholtra, the nation’s No. 21-ranked singles player, defeated Ali LaGrange 6-1, 6-1, in the No. 1 singles match. “We came here to dominate today,” Malhotra said. “Now we must get ready for Vanderbilt. We had a close match with them during the season and it will be a good match tomorrow.”
Tennessee (16-9) will square off against the ninth-ranked and third-seeded Commodores at 10 a.m. Friday.
South Carolina (11-10) split their singles matches against Mississippi State (8-11), but swept all of the doubles matches to earn the win, 6-3. The Lady Gamecocks will face Georgia, No. 4 in the country and the tournament’s No. 2 seed, at 10 a.m. Friday. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Friday. Tickets are $8 for a tournament pass, and single-day passes are $3 for adults and $1 for students and children.
COMPLETE AGATETennesee 6, Auburn 0Singles:1. Manisha Malhotra (UT) def. Ali LaGrange (Aub.) 6-1,6-1 2. Marjie Lepsi (UT) def. Heidii Stewart (Aub.) 6-2,6-4 3. Whitney Dill (UT) def. Lucy Altman (Aub.) 7-5,7-6 4. Erin Lowery (UT) def. Carolyn Virginia Kozlowski (Aub.) 6-1,-6-1 5. Vinny Seiverling (UT) def. Tara Fitzmorris (Aub.) 6-3,6-4 6. Megan Russell (UT) def. Summa Edwards (Aub.) 6-0,6-3
South Carolina 6, Mississippi State 3Singles:1. Ivana Belancic (MSU) def. Celine Regnier (USC) 6-2, 6-4 2. Amelie Detriviere (MSU) def. Karolina Bulat (USC) 6-4, 6-3 3. Nathalie Odryzynski (MSU) def. Leigh Eichelberger (USC) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 4. Valentine Vernaz (USC) def. Anca Vasiloaica (MSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 5. Tobi Rakic (USC) def. Leanne Wills (MSU) 7-5, 6-1 6. Mandy Carvalho (USC) def. Eimear Sloan (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles: 1. Eichelberger/Reigner (USC) def. Belancic/Wills (MSU) 8-3 2. Bulat/Rakic (USC) Detriviere/Odryzynski (MSU) 8-3 3. Carvalho/Vernaz (USC) Mattson/Sloan (MSU) 8-3
Arkansas 6, Alabama 0Singles: 1. Maria Pavlidou (Ark.) def. Jill Breslin (Ala.) 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 2. Louise Ostling (Ark.) def. Kerry Emes (Ala.) 6-2, 6-1 3. Andrea Ho (Ark.) Heather Geros (Ala.) 6-0, 6-0 4. Kendra Howard (Ark.) def. Scott Butcher (Ala.) 6-0, 6-1 5. Brandy Brown (Ark.) def. Cari Higgins (Ala.) 6-0, 6-0 6. Adriana Garcia (Ark.) def. Jessica White (Ala.) default
Kentucky 5, LSU 2Singles:1. Massoumeh Emami (UK) def. Laura Olave (LSU) 6-4, 6-2 2. Ana Paul Mores (LSU) def. Kelly Brown (UK) 6-1, 6-2 3. Kathy Herring (UK) def. Jamie Valloton (LSU) 6-1, 6-4 4. Jennifer Barr (LSU) def. Caroline Kirk (UK) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 5. Christy Sigurski (UK) def. Fernanda Tsucamoto (LSU) 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 6. Brooke Skeen (UK) def. Christine Weber (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles:1. Herring/Kirk (UK) def. Vallotton/Weber (LSU) 8-1
Friday’s Schedule:#3 Vanderbilt vs. #6 Tennessee 10 a.m.#2 Georgia vs. #7 South Carolina 10 a.m. #1 Florida vs. #8 Kentucky 2 p.m.#4 Ole Miss vs. #5 Arkansas 2 p.m.
