March 1, 2002
Lexington, Ky. – The 11th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team suffered just its second loss of the season in its Southeastern Conference opener on Friday, Mar. 1. The Wildcats (9-2) were defeated 5-2 by ninth-ranked Tennessee (10-3) at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center on the UK campus.
The Cats came out focused, tallying the match’s opening doubles point. UK has not failed to take the initial point in any of its dual match contests this season. The tandem of Amy Trefethen and Jill Buckley gave the Cats their first win with a convincing win over Kim Gates and Brooke Cordell on court three. Senior Lauren Rookledge and junior Leigh Bradwell soon followed suit, registering a 9-8 victory over 45th-ranked Alison Ojeda and Crystal Cleveland to give UK the 1-0 lead.
The Volunteers picked up the slack in singles action, taking courts one through four to clinch the dual match victory. Buckley picked the Cats’ lone singles win in impressive fashion with a straight set defeat of Cordell, 6-2, 6-0.
“I am proud of the effort put forth today,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “I am not at all worried about our style of play or our skill level. We had our opportunities to beat Tennessee today. I certainly want to give their top players and team leaders the credit for this win, though. We need to understand how close these matches are that we can be winning a match for two hours, but lose because of a failure to implement or believe in a game plan. I trust we will be back better than ever.”
The Wildcats will look to bounce back on Sunday, Mar. 3, when they face off against top-ranked Georgia. The match will be held at the Boone Tennis Center and is slated to begin at noon.
AgateUK 2, UT 5Singles1. #17 Alison Ojeda, UT def. #31 Carolina Mayorga, UK, 7-5, 6-32. #8 Vilmarie Castellvi, UT def. #44 Sarah Witten, UK, 6-2, 6-33. Kim Gates, UT def. #77 Lauren Rookledge, UK, 3-6, 6-4, 6-14. #62 Agnes Wiski, UT def. Amy Trefethen, UK, 6-4, 5-7, 6-45. Crystal Cleveland, UT def. Leigh Bradwell, UK, 6-1, 2-6, 1-06. Jill Buckley, UK def. Brooke Cordell, UT, 6-2, 6-0
Doubles1. #19 Wiski/Castellvi, UT def. #3 Witten/Mayorga, UK , 8-62. #60 Bradwell/Rookledge, UK def. #45 Ojeda/Cleveland, UT 9-83. #25 Trefethen/Jill Buckley, UK def. Cordell/Gates, UT, 8-2
