May 23, 2001

The University of Kentucky doubles team of junior Carolina Mayorga and sophomore Sarah Witten became the second doubles team in school history to earn All-America honors after advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Doubles Championships in Stone Mountain, Ga., on Wednesday, May 23.”This is obviously a tremendous honor for our program,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “These women are very deserving after playing two really tough matches as the first alternates in the tournament. This is also a good reflection on all of the hard work we’ve put into our doubles teams this year. Unfortunately, Brooke Skeen and Lauren Rookledge had a really tough draw and went out yesterday, but this helps to recognize their hard work as well.”

The duo, ranked 26th in the nation, knocked off the sixth-ranked team of Simone Jardim and Kim Niggemeyer from Fresno State, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round.

“I’m can’t say enough about how smart this team played today,” Assistant Coach Kathy Herring said. “They stayed poised and came back strong after a tough first set to win this. That shows both courage and perseverance.”

The Cats will face Baylor’s Katja Kovac and Jahnavi Parakh in Thursday’s quarterfinal at 1 p.m.