April 16, 2013
2013 Women’s Tennis SEC Tourna
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team will face LSU on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Starkville, Miss.
Kentucky wrapped up the regular season with a 4-3 win over No. 27 South Carolina, bringing the squad’s record to 13-11 on the year, including 4-9 in the SEC. The Wildcats’ recent win was their first victory over a top-30 opponent this year.
Kentucky won the doubles point on Sunday to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. Singles wins from Nadia Ravita and Stephanie Fox gave UK a 3-2 lead and Caitlin McGraw clinched the win with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win on court five.
LSU finished the regular season 8-15, going 1-12 in conference play. The Tigers are riding a seven-match losing streak to end the regular season, most recently falling 6-1 to Arkansas on Sunday.
The two programs met earlier in the year, as Kentucky traveled to Baton Rouge, La., and defeated LSU 4-3. LSU won the doubles point but singles wins from Nadia Ravita, Jessica Stiles, Kirsten Lewis and Stephanie Fox clinched the match for UK.
Kentucky is led by freshman Nadia Ravita in the No. 1 singles slot. Currently ranked 22nd by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Ravita wrapped up the regular season with a 19-4 record, including 9-3 in SEC play.
Ella Taylor has been solid for LSU in the No. 3 singles slot, posting a 10-5 record from that position. Kaitlin Burns is 6-12 in the No. 1 singles slot for the Tigers.
Kentucky lost in the first round of the 2012 SEC Tournament 5-0 to No. 28 South Carolina. The Tigers also lost in the first round of last year’s tournament, falling 4-1 to Arkansas.
Kentucky has never won the SEC Tournament but finished runners-up in 2005 and 2006.
Live stats of all tournament matches will be available on hailstate.com. Also follow @SECTennis on Twitter for live updates of the tournament.
The winner of Wednesday’s first round match will advance to face six-seed Vanderbilt on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
Follow Kentucky women’s tennis on Twitter @UKWomensTennis and Like the Kentucky Women’s Tennis page on Facebook.
