April 6, 2003

Auburn, Ala. – The 15th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team captured its fifth-straight Southeastern Conference victory on Sunday with a 6-1 defeat of Auburn at the Luther Young Tennis Complex on the Tigers’ campus. UK improved to 18-6 overall and 8-2 in the SEC, while Auburn falls to 9-9, 2-8 in the conference.

The Cats continued their dominance in doubles taking two of the three matches to take the doubles point and a 1-0 lead. Sarah Witten found herself in an unfamiliar position playing at the No. 3 doubles spot with Shannon Stough. The duo was paired together due to an injury to Witten’s regular partner, Amy Trefethen. None the less, Witten picked up yet another doubles victory as she and Stough defeated AU’s Liz Sauerborn and Ashley Cowart, 8-6. Witten is now 30-8 on the year in doubles play. Shannon Stafford and Nathalie Roels displayed much of the same dominance they have shown all season in an 8-0 rout of Sarah Suitor and Isabel Rosenbrock at the No. 2 spot. At the No. 1 position, Leigh Bradwell and Jill Buckley gave Auburn’s 59th-ranked tandem of Carolina Ramirez and Petra Bercik all they could before dropping a tough 9-7 loss.

In singles, the Tigers put up a valiant fight but in the end could not keep pace with UK. At the No. 1 spot, Witten picked up her seventh-consecutive singles victory and improved to 7-3 in conference play as she handed Ramirez a 6-2, 6-1 straight-sets defeat. At the No. 2 position, Roels took the first set, 6-4, against Bercik and was able to bounce back from a 6-2 second-set loss to win the match with a 6-2 win in the third. The victory was Roels’ seventh straight and improved her conference record to 8-2. Buckley was able to defeat Sauerborn in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 3 singles. At No. 4 singles, Stafford dropped the first set, 6-2, and took Rosenbrock to a tie-break in the second before falling, 7-6 (6). Stough stepped up to play No. 5 singles in place of Trefethen and looked to be overwhelmed against Suitor when she dropped the first set, 6-1. However, the gritty freshman was able to rebound and promptly won the second and third sets, 6-2, 6-3, to claim the victory. At the No. 6 position, Bradwell made a rare singles appearance and she, too, looked to be a little out of sorts, dropping her first set to Martina Janska, 6-2. Bradwell was also able to rebound and won the second set, 6-4. Janska pushed Bradwell to a tie-break in the third, but Bradwell proved to be too powerful and hung on to win 7-6 (5).

“This was a very good team victory for us,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “The team is really coming together and playing very solid tennis. We just need to maintain our focus and continue to play with the maturity and determination we’ve displayed over the last few weeks.”

The Cats are back in action on Wednesday, Apr. 9, when they step outside the conference and head to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the 47th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

Agate:

Doubles

1. #59 Carolina Ramirez/Petra Bercik (AU) def. Leigh Bradwell/Jill Buckley (UK) 9-7
2. Shannon Stafford/Nathalie Roels (UK) def. Sarah Suitor/Isabel Rosenbrock (AU) 8-0
3. Sarah Witten/Shannon Stough (UK) def. Liz Saurerborn/Ashley Cowart (AU) 8-6

Singles

1. #49 Sarah Witten (UK) def. Carolina Ramirez (AU) 6-2; 6-1
2. #101 Nathalie Roels (UK) def. Petra Bercik (AU) 6-4; 2-6; 6-2
3. Jill Buckley (UK) def. Liz Sauerborn (AU) 6-3; 7-5
4. Isabel Rosenbrock (AU) def. Shannon Stafford (UK) 6-2; 7-6 (6)
5. Shannon Stough (UK) def. Sarah Suitor (AU) 1-6; 6-2; 6-3
6. Leigh Bradwell (UK) def. Martina Janska (AU) 2-6; 6-4; 7-6 (5)