May 16, 1998

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BLACKSBURG, Va.-The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team fell to Virginia Commonwealth, 5-2, in the semifinals of the NCAA East Regional Championship Saturday.

“For this match, I told the team that we did not need to hang our heads,” Coach Mark Guilbeau stated. “Our goal was to get through this tournament and we took a big step yesterday, but we were beaten by a better team today.” The Wildcats took victories over VCU in two set matches at No. 2 and No. 6 singles. At No. 2, UK junior Kelly Brown defeated VCU’s Sofia Hiort, 6-4, 6-4. Wildcat freshman Brooke Skeen pummeled VCU’s Sira Thayaprasat, 6-0, 6-1. This is the final match this season as they say goodbye to the lone senior of the Lady Cats squad, Kathy Herring.

“I think we still have another level of competition, whether it be in matches or in daily practices,” Guilbeau said. “I want to teach them this so they will continue to be consistent next season. They worked so hard this season and showed a great deal of discipline.”

Virginia Commonwealth 5, Kentucky 2

Women’s singles1. Martina Nedelkova (V) def. Massoumeh Emami (K) 6-3, 6-2 2. Kelly Brown (K) def. Sofia Hiort (V) 6-4, 6-4 3. Lenka Zacharova (V) def. Kathy Herring (K) 6-2, 6-3 4. Andrea Ondrisova (V) def. Caroline Kirk (K) 6-2, 6-2 5. Carmen Beitzer (V) def. Christy Sigurski (K) 6-3, 7-5 6. Brooke Skeen (K) def. Sira Thayaprasat (V) 6-0, 6-1

Women’s doubles1. Nedelkova/Ondrisova (V) def. Brown/Emami (K) 8-2 2. Herring/Skeen (K) vs. Hiort/Zacharova (V) susp. 3. Sigurski/Kirk (K) vs. Beitzer/Thayaprasat (V) susp.