April 8, 2003

The 15th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team heads to Columbus, Ohio to take on No. 47 Ohio State on Wednesday at the Buckeyes’ Stickney Tennis Center. Match time is 2:30 p.m. ET. With a victory, the Cats will extend their current winning streak to six, the second longest of the season. This will be the last match for UK before it finishes the regular season at home against No. 10 Vanderbilt on Saturday.

“Ohio State is a scary team,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “They’re fourth in their conference and have some big wins. We will really need to be focused and on our game to come away with a victory.”

OSU (10-7, 4-2 Big Ten) has dropped its last two matches and five of its last six. The Buckeyes are lead by Sadhaf Pervez, who is 16-1in dual-match play, at No. 1 singles. Jackie Leskovar is OSU’s second-leading singles player with a 9-8 dual-match record. In doubles, Pervez teams with Lindsay Williams to form OSU’s top doubles tandem. The duo is 12-4 for the dual-match season. Leskovar teams up with Erica Fisk to form the Buckeyes’ second-leading duo with a 12-5 record.

The Cats (18-6, 8-2 SEC) counter with 49th-ranked Sarah Witten at No. 1 singles and No. 101 Nathalie Roels at the second spot. Witten is 15-8 in dual-match singles play and Roels is 16-8. Jill Buckley (12-9), Shannon Stafford (7-13), Amy Trefethen (14-5) and Shannon Stough (15-7) shore up the 3-6 singles spots. In doubles, Witten and Trefethen hold down the top spot with an impressive 12-2 mark and a No. 8 national ranking, while Buckley and Leigh Bradwell are 11-10 at the No. 2 position. At the third spot, Roels and Stafford are 11-3.