Sept. 22, 2014
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Kentucky women’s tennis team opened the fall season with a pair of runner-up doubles finishes and a fourth-place singles finish from senior Stephanie Fox at the Gopher Invitational, Sept. 19-21.
Fox placed fourth in singles play in her flight of 16 players at the 13-team tournament. In doubles action, sophomore Taylor Lederman and senior Kate Lanier finished second in their flight of four on Saturday, while Lederman and senior Grace Trimble notched a runner-up finish in their Sunday flight.
The three-day tournament, which consisted of a new doubles draw each day and six 16-team singles tournaments, was hosted by the University of Minnesota. Friday’s action featured three rounds of doubles and the first round of singles. Two rounds of both singles and doubles matches were contested Saturday and Sunday.
Friday, Fox and Lederman lost their opening round to Northern Illinois, 8-3 before they recovered to down South Dakota, 8-2, and Northern Iowa, 8-7 (4), to win the consolation finals and place fifth in their flight. Lanier and Trimble lost 8-6 to South Dakota and 8-7 (4) to South Dakota State before an 8-2 win over North Dakota to place seventh.
In Saturday’s doubles action, Lanier and Lederman beat South Dakota State 8-0 before an 8-3 loss to Wisconsin in the finals to finish second. Fox and Trimble lost to Iowa State and Milwaukee to place fourth.
In the final day of doubles competition, Lederman and Trimble beat Northern Illinois in the first round before a loss to Iowa in the finals. Lanier and Fox lost to Minnesota and Eastern Michigan.
In singles competition, Fox led UK with a fourth-place finish in one of six 16-player singles tournaments. The senior beat Milwaukee, 7-5, 6-1, in the opening round and Wisconsin in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Fox lost to Iowa State, 7-5, 6-4, before falling 6-1, 6-1 to Minnesota in the third-place match of the tournament.
Lanier placed sixth in her singles flight, with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over North Dakota in the first round before a loss to South Dakota in the quarterfinals. Lanier responded with a win over Northern Illinois in the consolation semifinals before a loss to Minnesota in the sixth-place match.
Lederman, competing in Fox’s flight, opened with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Eastern Michigan. In the quarterfinals, Lederman lost to Minnesota but recovered with a win over Iowa and did not play Wisconsin in the seventh-place match.
Trimble played in Lanier’s flight and placed 12th, with a loss to South Dakota, 6-1, 6-1 before a bye in the consolation round quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Trimble lost to South Dakota State, 6-1, 6-0 before a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Northern Illinois.
The Wildcats return to action this weekend at the Northwestern Invitational in Evanston, Ill. The spring slate begins January 13 in Hawaii, while UK hosts its first home contests of the season on Jan. 18 vs. the College of Charleston and Belmont.
Drada and the Wildcats are coming off an impressive 2013-14 campaign that saw Kentucky make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2009. UK advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s second round and three Wildcats competed at the NCAA Individual Championships, including Ravita. Drada was named the Wilson/ITA Ohio Valley Region Coach of the Year, while assistant coach Kevin Calhoun earned Ohio Valley Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors.
Visit UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information on the Kentucky women’s tennis team and all 22 varsity sports. For additional info, notes and behind-the-scenes updates, follow the team on Twitter at @UKWomensTennis.
