April 17, 1998

LEXINGTON, Ky.— The top two seeds of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament advanced to the semifinals and two teams were upset in the quarterfinal round Friday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center on the UK campus.

Kentucky (14-8) fell to Florida, the No. 2 team in the country and the No. 1 seed in the tournament, 5-0, as the Gators swept all five singles matches. The sixth singles match was retired after two sets. UK’s Massoumeh Emami had a set point against Dawn Buth, the nation’s 13th-ranked singles player. But Buth prevailed, winning 6-2, 7-6 (2). “I think I played pretty well, especially in the first set,” Emami said. “I had a set point, but it just didn’t go in my favor. She’s a really good player, and she played really aggressive.” UK head coach Mark Guilbeau said that despite the defeat, he was proud of his team.

“We talked a lot about team effort and teamwork, and everyone should be really proud,” Guilbeau said. “I’m really proud of these kids. They’ve handled my expectations really well. I ask a lot from them, and they’ve lived up to it. What’s exciting is that we’re not done yet. We’ve got a lot left and we’re going to keep working.”

Sixth-seeded Tennessee (17-9) defeated third-seeded Vanderbilt (17-7) , 5-4, in the tournament’s first upset. The Volunteers dropped four singles matches, but came back to sweep all three doubles contests. “We are very excited to win in this fashion,” Tennessee head coach Mike Patrick said. “Vanderbilt has a great team and they played some great singles matches today. But our doubles teams really came together and fought hard.”

UT’s Margie Lepsi and Erin Lowrey won the only singles matches for the Volunteers, prevailing at No.2 and No. 4 singles, respectively. “I think we played a really competitive match,” Lowrey said. “We’ve worked really hard so this pays off.”

Fifth-seeded Arkansas (19-7) upset Ole Miss (16-5), the nation’s No. 6 team and the tournament’s No. 4 seed, by winning five of six singles matches. The Lady Razorbacks dropped only the No. 1 singles match to earn the victory, 5-1.

“We knew we had a chance to win,” Arkansas head coach Kevin Platt said. “I felt we played hard and we really competed. I didn’t expect to win as many singles matches as we did, but we played with confidence and I am very pleased with my team.”

Georgia, the No. 2 seed and the No. 4 team in the country, dominated seventh-seeded South Carolina (11-11) to win 5-1. The Lady Bulldogs (18-3) won four singles matches, dropping only the No. 5 match. Georgia’s Marissa Catlin, ranked second in the nation, outlasted Celine Regnier 6-2, 7-6 (2). “Our team did a really good job today,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “I was really pleased and I thought the team competed really hard.” Georgia will square off against Tennessee at 10 a.m. in the first semifinal Saturday. Defending champion Florida faces Arkansas at 2 p.m.

COMPLETE AGATE
#6 Tennessee 5, #3 Vanderbilt 4  Singles:1. Julie Ditty (VU)        def. Manisha Malhotra (UT) 6-4, 7-52. Marjie Lepsi (UT)       def. Callie Creighton (VU) 6-4, 6-2   3. Kristen Radford (VU)    def. Whitney Dill (UT) 6-2, 6-2 4. Erin Lowery (UT)        def. Kristy Blumberg(VU) 6-2, 6-1 5. Annie Plessinger (VU)   def. Vinny Seiverling (UT) 7-5, 6-1 6. Staci Ryan (VU)         def. Megan Russell (UT) 6-2, 6-3 Doubles:1. Malhotra/Lepsi (UT)     def. Ditty/Blumberg (VU) 8-2  2. Reid/Russell (UT)       def. Plessinger/Creighton (VU) 9-7 3. Dill/Lowrey (UT)        def. Ryan/Radford 8-4     

#2 Georgia 5, #7 South Carolina 1       Singles:1. Marissa Catlin   (GA)   def. Celine Regnier (USC) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)      2. Aarthi Venkatesan (GA)  def. Karolina Bulat (USC) 6-2, 6-2 3. Vanessa Castellano (GA) def. Leigh Eichelberger (USC) 6-2, 6-1 4. Jane Reid (GA)          def. Valentine Vernaz (USC) 6-1, 6-0  5. Tobi Rakic (USC)        def. Lauren Rose (GA) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 6. Chrissy Gray (GA)       def. Mandy Carvalho (USC) 6-1, 6-3    

#5 Arkansas 5, #4 Ole Miss 1Singles:1. Agnes Muzamel (Miss.)   def. Maria Pavlidou (Ark.) 6-4, 6-1   2. Louise Ostling   (Ark.) def. Courtenay Chapman (Miss.) 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) 3. Andrea Ho (Ark.)        def. Ivona Mihailova (Miss.) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2   4. Kendra Howard (Ark.)    def. Mariana Eberle (Miss.) 6-3, 6-3      5. Brandy Brown (Ark.)     def. Martina Crha (Miss.) 6-2, 6-1    6. Andriana Garcia (Ark.)  def. Missy Brewer    (Miss.) 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 

#1 FLORIDA 5, #8 KENTUCKY 0Singles:1. Dawn Buth (UF)          def. Massoumeh Emami (UK) 7-5, 6-3 2. M.C. White (UF)         def. Kelly Brown (UK) 6-2, 6-1 3. Stephanie Nickitas (UF) def. Kathy Herring (UK) 6-0, 6-0 4. Whitney Laiho    (UF)   def. Caroline Kirk (UK) 6-0, 6-1. 5. Stephanie Hazlette (UF) def. Christy Sigurski (UK) 6-2, 6-4 6. Bonnie Bleecker  (UF)    vs. Brooke Skeen (UK) 5-7, 6-2, ret. 

Saturday's Schedule:Semifinals#2 Georgia vs. #6 Tennessee     10 a.m.#1 Florida vs. #5 Arkansas       2 p.m.