April 9, 2003

Columbus, Ohio – The 15th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team had to come from behind to pull out a 4-3 victory over No. 47 Ohio State on Wednesday at the Stickney Tennis Center in Columbus. With the win the Cats improved to 19-6 on the season, 8-2 SEC, while the Buckeyes fell to 10-8, 4-2 Big Ten.

Kentucky found itself in an unusual position after the Buckeyes swept all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. UK’s eighth-ranked duo of Sarah Witten and Amy Trefethen lost just their third doubles match of the year, falling in a tie-break to OSU’s Sadhaf Pervez and Lindsay Williams, 9-8, at the No. 1 spot. Nathalie Roels and Shannon Stafford moved up to No. 2 doubles for the Cats only to be stunned by Jackie Leskovar and Erica Fisk, 8-3. The loss was Roels and Stafford’s fourth on the year. At No. 3 doubles, Jill Buckley and Leigh Bradwell were defeated, 8-5, by Meaghan Colville and Lindsey Adams.

In singles play, UK buckled down and went to work. At the top spot, Witten, ranked 49th in singles, handed 38th-ranked Pervez her second singles loss of the year, 6-3, 6-2, to pull the Cats even at 1-1. Roels, who is ranked No. 101, began her match with Fisk in not so stellar fashion, falling down a game in the first set, but regained her composure to win the set, 6-2. In the second Roels was pushed to the limit by Fisk before taking a 7-5 set victory to clinch the point and put UK ahead, 2-1, in the match. The Cats then fell back down, 3-2, when Jill Buckley pushed Leskovar to a second-set tie break before losing the point in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6(5), and at the fourth spot, Stafford was unable to establish herself and fell, 6-1, 6-1, to Williams.

At No. 5 singles, Trefethen, battling a sprained ankle, dug deep and showed the competitiveness that has been the cornerstone of her whole career to pull out a straight-sets victory over Emily DeCamilla, 6-2, 6-4. With the match tied, 3-3, Shannon Stough once again came up with a huge match to clinch the victory for UK with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Lindsay Bryan at No. 6 singles.

“Give a lot of credit to Ohio State,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “I said going into this match that they were a scary team and they proved it today.

“This coaching staff is so proud of the way our team fought back to get this win. Despite being down, they fought back and got this win based solely on the desire and spirit of all eight girls on the squad.”

Kentucky has two days off before its senior-day match up with No. 10 Vanderbilt, at UK’s Boone Tennis Center, on Saturday, April 12.

Agate:

#15 Kentucky 4, #47 Ohio State 3
Doubles
1. Sadhaf Pervez/Lindsay Williams (OSU) def. Sarah Witten/Amy Trefethen (UK) 9-8(7)
2. Erica Fisk/Jackie Leskovar (OSU) def. Shannon Stafford/Nathalie Roels (UK) 8-3
3. Meaghan Colville/Lindsey Adams (OSU) def. Leigh Bradwell/Jill Buckley (UK) 8-5

Singles
1. #49 Sarah Witten (UK) def. #38 Sadhaf Pervez (OSU) 6-3; 6-2
2. #101 Nathalie Roels (UK) def. Erica Fisk (OSU) 6-2; 7-5
3. Jackie Leskovar (OSU) def. Jill Buckley (UK) 6-4; 7-6(5)
4. Lindsay Williams (OSU) def. Shannon Stafford (UK) 6-1; 6-1
5. Amy Trefethen (UK) def. Emily DeCamilla (OSU) 6-2; 6-4
6. Shannon Stough (UK) def. Lindsay Bryan (OSU) 6-3; 6-4