April 19, 2002
Columbia, S.C. – The 16th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team bowed out of the Southeastern Conference Championships on Friday, April 19 after its quarterfinal loss to third-ranked Florida. With the 4-1 loss, the Wildcats fall to 16-8 while the Gators advance to a semifinal matchup with sixth-ranked Vanderbilt.
The Cats utilized excellent doubles play and momentum from Thursday’s 4-1 victory over LSU to jump on the Gators and pick up an early 1-0 lead. Senior Lauren Rookledge and junior Leigh Bradwell picked up an 8-5 doubles victory for the Cats before the junior tandem of Amy Trefethen and Jill Buckley clinched the opening point with a hard-fought 9-8 win on court three that extended two hours and 39 minutes.
With the doubles point in hand, the Wildcats set out to tally three singles wins to clinch the match and solidify the upset. However, with their backs against the wall the Gators responded. Florida reeled off four straight singles wins to clinch the match and eliminate UK from the tournament.
“Florida is an excellent team and we played a tough match today,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “I am proud of the effort we gave today and I think that we can take a lot of positive things away from a match like this. We hung in with one of the best teams in the country and there is certainly confidence to be gained from that.”
The Wildcats will now await the release of 2002 NCAA Championship pairings on May 1. Along with UK’s current ranking of No. 16, the Cats have picked up several quality wins throughout the season and expect to receive an at-large bid to the Championships.
AgateUK 1, UF 4Singles1. #1 Jessica Lehnhoff (UF) def. #57 Sarah Witten (UK), 6-1, 6-22. #16 Lindsay Dawaf (UF) def. #43 Carolina Mayorga (UK), 6-2, 6-33. #101 Lauren Rookledge (UK) v. #53 Zerene Reyes (UF), DNF4. #85 Alexis Gordon (UF) def. Amy Trefethen (UK), 6-0, 6-25. Jill Buckley (UK) v. Annika Bengtsson (UF), DNF6. Julia Scaringe (UF) def. Leigh Bradwell (UK), 7-5, 6-2
Doubles1. #5 Lehnhoff/Dawaf (UF) def. #7 Witten/Mayorga (UK), 8-62. Bradwell/Rookledge (UK) def. Gordon/Scaringe (UF), 8-53. Trefethen/Buckley (UK) def. Bengtsson/Reyes (UF), 9-8
