Feb. 19, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s tennis team notched its third consecutive victory in a week’s time on Tuesday, defeating the Miami RedHawks 5-2 at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex.
Kentucky jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, taking two of the three doubles matches. Sophomore Stephanie Fox and senior Jessica Stiles recorded Kentucky’s first win on court three, defeating Chloe Heerden and Christiana Raymond 8-2.
The Wildcats clinched the doubles point on court two, with sophomore Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff and junior Cece Witten blowing past Nimisha Mohan and Ana Rajkovic 8-2. With the doubles point decided, play continued on court one.
Junior Caitlin McGraw and freshman Nadia Ravita trailed 7-4 in the No. 1 doubles slot before fighting back to force a tiebreaker. The tandem got behind early in the tiebreaker and wasn’t able to erase the deficit, losing the tiebreaker 7-4 and dropping the match 8-7.
Court three was the first to finish in singles play, with Morin-Kougoucheff having to retire due to a shoulder injury. Morin-Kougoucheff had dropped the first set and was down 2-1 in the second set when she was forced to surrender the No. 3 singles point to the RedHawks.
Ravita continued her strong play on court one, breezing through Christiana Raymond 6-1, 6-2. The freshman’s third consecutive win improved her to 7-1 on the year in the No. 1 singles position.
In the No. 4 singles slot, McGraw won in straight sets (6-4, 6-2) to give the Wildcats a 3-1 lead and place them in solid position to clinch the match. Stiles used her senior experience to fend off Alix Thurman and claim the Wildcats their fourth, and match-clinching, point with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
With the outcome decided, the No. 5 and 6 singles positions played out their matches. Fox cruised to victory in the No. 6 slot, winning the match 6-3, 6-1. The win improved Fox’s record to 6-2 on the year in singles play.
Witten battled Ana Rajkovic in the No. 5 singles spot, winning the first set 7-6. Rajkovic took the second set 6-3 and the two were headed for a 10-point tiebreaker to settle the match. Rajkovic pulled away and fought off a comeback attempt from Witten, taking the tiebreaker 10-8 to give the RedHawks their second point of the day.
Kentucky will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Lawrence, Kan., to face the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
No. 63 Kentucky – 5
Miami (Oh.) – 2
Doubles
1 – Christine Guerrazzi/Alix Thurman (MU) def. Caitlin McGraw/Nadia Ravita (UK) 8-7 (7-4)
2 – Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff/CeCe Witten (UK) def. Nimisha Mohan/Ana Rajkovic (MU) 8-2
3 – Stephanie Fox/Jessica Stiles (UK) def. Chloe Heerden/Christiana Raymond (MU) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2*, 1
Singles
1 – Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Christiana Raymond (MU) 6-1, 6-2
2 – Jessica Stiles (UK) def. Alix Thurman (MU) 6-4, 6-3
3 – Nimisha Mohan (MU) def Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff (UK) def. 6-2, 2-1 (ret.)
4 – Caitlin McGraw (UK) def. Christine Guerrazzi (MU) 6-4, 6-2
5 – Ana Rajkovic (MU) def. Cece Witten (UK) 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
6 – Stephanie Fox (UK) def. Chloe Heerden (MU) 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 4, 2*, 6, 5
