March 8, 2002

Lexington, Ky. – The 11th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team escaped Oxford, Miss., with a hard-fought victory over the Ole Miss Rebels on Friday, March 8. The Wildcats (10-3) registered a 4-3 win over the 40th-ranked Rebels (6-4) to tally their first Southeastern Conference win of the year.

True to form, the Wildcats had little problem taking the doubles point. UK swept the doubles competition making it the 12th time the Cats have registered the opening point in 13 matches this season.

Ole Miss recovered in singles competition, taking a 2-1 lead with quick wins on courts one and two. The Cats’ Lauren Rookledge countered with a straight-sets win of her own to knot the score at two and shift the focus to the final three courts.

With each of the remaining courts heading into a third set, UK suffered another set back when the Rebels won a third-set tiebreaker to take court three and a 3-2 lead. With Ole Miss needing only one of the final two courts for the upset, the Cats clawed their way back. Junior Leigh Bradwell overcame the pressure of an opening set loss to register a vital three-set win and even things up with one court remaining. Junior Jill Buckley, after being moved up to the five spot less than a week ago, was able to step up defeat the Rebels’ Florencia Basile in a third-set tiebreaker to complete the comeback and record the 4-3 Wildcat victory.

The Cats will look to pick up another SEC road victory over Mississippi State on Sunday, March 11, when they conclude their southern road trip in Starkville, Miss. The match is slated to begin at 12:30 p.m. local time.

AgateUK 4, UM 3Singles1. #13 Mira Radu (UM) def. #26 Carolina Mayorga (UK), 6-2, 6-22. #69 Alesya Ignatieva (UM) def. #41 Sarah Witten (UK), 6-2, 6-13. #97 Lauren Rookledge (UK) def. Karem Harboe (UM), 6-2, 6-24. Sabrina Peppl (UM) def. Amy Trefethen (UK), 6-1, 4-6, 7-65. Jill Buckley (UK) def. Florencia Basile (UM), 6-2, 3-6, 7-66. Leigh Bradwell (UK) def. Audra Adams (UM), 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

Doubles1. #4 Witten/Mayorga (UK) def. Ignatieva/Adams (UM), 8-52. Bradwell/Rookledge (UK) def. Harboe/Basile (UM), 8-43. Trefethen/Jill Buckley (UK) def. Radu/Gould (UM), 8-2