March 15, 2002

The 11th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team was unable to find a victorious path through the swamp as they were defeated by No. 6 Florida in Southeastern Conference action on Friday, March15 in Gainesville, Fla. The 5-2 loss leaves Kentucky at 11-4 on the season and 2-4 in the SEC, while the Gators stay undefeated at 9-0, 5-0 SEC.

Despite UK’s victory at No. 2 in doubles, Florida grabbed the early point. Lauren Rookledge and Leigh Bradwell grabbed the doubles win at No. 2 when they downed UF’s Alexis Gordon and Julia Scaringe, 8-4. Kentucky’s fourth-ranked tandem of Carolina Mayorga and Sarah Witten were upset on the first court by No. 9 Jessica Lehnhoff and Lindsay Dawaf.

Kentucky dropped three straight singles matches at No. 1, No. 6 and No. 4 securing the Gator victory. Tallying UK’s two points were Jill Buckley at No. 5 and Witten at No. 2. Buckley took her victory over UF’s Annika Bengtsson in straight sets, while Witten grabbed her victory when Lindsay Dawaff retired the match. The fifth Florida point came from a battle between UK’s Rookledge and Zerene Reyes in the only three-set match of the day. Rookledge dropped the first but came back to grab the second set before being overpowered by Reyes in the final set.

The Wildcats return to action on Sunday, March 17, when they return to the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex to play host to the South Carolina Gamecocks. The match is set to begin at noon.

AGATE:SinglesNo. 1#2 Jessica Lehnhoff (UF) def. Carolina Mayorga (UK)6-1,6-2No. 2#41 Sarah Witten (UK) def. #29 Liindsay Dawaff (UF) 6-3, 3-3 RET.No. 3Zerene Reyes (UF) def. Lauren Rookledge (UK)6-4,4-6,6-1No. 4#76 Alexis Gordon (UF) def. Amy Trefethen (UK)6-0,6-2No. 5Jill Buckley (UK) def. Annika Bengtsson (UF) 6-2,3-0No. 6Julia Scaringe (UF) def. Leigh Bradwell (UK)6-1,6-4DoublesNo. 1#9 Lehnhoff/Dawaf (UF) def. #4 Mayorga/Witten (UK)8-4No. 2Rookledge/Bradwell (UK) def. Gordon/Scaringe (UF)8-4No. 3Bengtsson/Reyes (UF) def. Trefethen/Buckley (UK)8-6