May 12, 2001
The 24th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team advanced to the next round of the NCAA Championships on Saturday, May 12, with its impressive 4-0 opening round victory over Virginia at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center on the campus of Northwestern University.The Wildcats (14-10) took the match’s first point and continued to dominate as they rolled into the second round of the tournament. Twenty-ninth ranked Carolina Mayorga and Sarah Witten cruised to the Cats’ first doubles win with an 8-0 route of Christine Kim and Amy O’Donnell. Senior Brooke Skeen and junior Lauren Rookledge, the nation’s 20th-ranked team, notched the doubles point for UK with their 8-3 victory over Hjenriette Williams and Christie Schweer.Rookledge, Skeen and sophomore Leigh Bradwell would all grab singles wins to close out the Wildcat victory. Rookledge breezed past Laura James, 6-2, 6-0, while Skeen had little difficulty defeating Schweer, 6-3, 6-2. Bradwell clinched the match for UK by overpowering Jennifer Tuchband 6-4, 6-1. Sophomore Shannon Stafford was on the verge of finishing her straight set win over Kelly Weaver with the score tallying 6-4, 5-3 in favor of Stafford when the match was abandoned.”This was a very good match for the entire team,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “I am really happy for this team to get to experience an NCAA Tournament win. I was extremely impressed with how we handled our nerves and the competitiveness of the situation.”Brooke got a big win today and it was great to see Leigh clinch the match for us. We have now put ourselves in the position that we have planned to be in all year. This entire team is confident that we can reach our goal of making to the round of 16.”The Cats will now take on the team that advances from the other regional matchup between ninth-ranked Northwestern and Illinois-Chicago. UK will square off against the winner on Sunday at noon.
AGATE:
UK 4, UVA 0
Singles
1. Carolina Mayorga (#40), UK vs. Amy O’Donnell, UVA DNF
2. Sarah Witten (#83), UK vs. Hjenriette Williams, UVA DNF
3. Brooke Skeen (#82), UK def. Christie Schweer, UVA 6-3, 6-2
4. Leigh Bradwell, UK def. Jennifer Tuchband, UVA 6-4, 6-1
5. Lauren Rookledge, UK def. Laura James, UVA 6-2, 6-0
6. Shannon Stafford, UK vs. Kelly Weaver, UVA DNF
Doubles (one point for best two out of three)
1. Skeen/Rookledge, (#20), UK def. Williams/Schweer, UVA 8-3
2. Mayorga/Witten, (#29) UK def. Kim/O’Donnell, UVA 8-0
3. Trefethen/Buckley, UK vs. Tuchband/Weaver, UVA DNF
