March 28, 2003

The 15th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team won its fifth Southeastern Conference match with a 6-1 victory over visiting Arkansas Friday, March 28 at UK’s Boone Tennis Center. With the victory the Cats improved to 15-6 overall and 5-2 in the SEC, while the Lady Backs fell to 7-9 overall and 0-7 in the SEC.

UK continued its outstanding doubles play taking all three matches to claim a 1-0 lead. Seniors Sarah Witten and Amy Trefethen improved their SEC doubles record to 5-2 at the top spot, with an 8-0 win over junior Anna Dybicz and sophomore Iliana Pecheco. At the number-three spot senior Shannon Stafford and freshman Nathalie Roels also improved to 5-2 in the conference with an 8-2 win over sophomore Monika Dybicz and junior Megan Ferreira. Seniors Jill Buckley and Leigh Bradwell defeated sophomore Simona Arghire and freshman Melissa Cornett, 8-3, at number-two doubles to improve their conference record to 3-4.

In singles Witten, Roels, Trefethen and freshman Shannon Stough all tallied straight-sets victories. At number-three singles, Buckley dropped the first set, 7-6, to Ferreira but rebounded to take the second by a count of 6-2. Due to time constraints, the two played a 10-point tie break in the third set and Buckley prevailed by a 10-8 count to secure her singles point. At the fourth spot, Stafford won her first set over Pecheco in a tie break, 7-6. She was unable to maintain her momentum however and dropped the second set 6-3 and the third-set 10-point tie break 11-9 giving Pecheco the victory.

The Cats are back in action on Sunday, March 30. They will host LSU at the Boone Tennis Center. Match time is Noon and admission is free.

Agate:

#15 Kentucky 6, #52 Arkansas 1
Records: UK (15-6, 5-2 SEC), UA (7-9, 0-7 SEC)

Singles
1. #49 Sarah Witten (UK) d. Simona Arghire (UA) 6-2; 6-1
2. #101 Nathalie Roels (UK) d. Anna Dybicz (UA) 6-0; 6-0
3. Jill Buckley (UK) d. Megan Ferreira (UA) 6-7; 6-2; 1-0 (10-8)
4. Iliana Pecheco (UA) d. Shannon Stafford (UK) 7-6; 3-6; 1-0 (11-9)
5. Amy Trefethen (UK) d. Melissa Cornett (UA) 6-2; 7-5
6. Shannon Staugh (UK) d. Monika Dybicz (UA) 6-4; 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 2, 6*, 5, 3, 4
*Clinched victory

Doubles
1. #8 Witten/Trefethen (UK) d. A. Dybicz/Pacheco (UA) 8-0
2. Bradwell/Buckley (UK) d. Arghire/Cornett (UA) 8-3
3. Roels/Stafford (UK) d. M. Dybicz/Ferreira (UA) 8-2