April 12, 2003
The 14th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s tennis team had the most memorable senior day in the history of UK women’s tennis on Saturday when they defeated No. 10 Vanderbilt, 4-3, at UK’s Boone Tennis Complex. The win, Kentucky’s first over Vandy under seventh-year coach Mark Guilbeau, improved the Cats’ record to 20-6 overall and 9-2 in the Southeastern Conference. The Commodores fell to 17-4, 8-3 SEC. The victory also assured UK a second-place finish in the SEC, its highest in 16 years.
“I am just so, so happy for these kids,” Guilbeau said. “Especially our seniors. Nobody knows what they’ve gone through and how much they wanted to win this match. This is the most awesome senior day ever.”
Kentucky started things off in usual fashion by winning the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. At No. 3 doubles, Senior Shannon Stafford and freshman Nathalie Roels made quick work of Vandy’s Ashley Schellas and Annie Menees, 8-1, to give the Cats the advantage. At the No. 2 position, seniors Leigh Bradwell and Jill Buckley dropped a tough 8-4 decision to the Dores’ Audra Falk and Kelly Schmandt. At the top spot the Cats’ 11th-ranked senior duo of Sarah Witten and Amy Trefethen were tested by VU’s fourth-ranked tandem of Aleke Tsoubanos and Sarah Riske. The two teams went back and forth, holding serve until UK went up 4-3. The Cats then broke VU’s serve to take a 5-3 lead and would drop just one more game before winning the match 8-4 and clinching the doubles point.
In singles the Cats needed a little more drama. Trefethen finished off Schellas in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, to give UK a 2-0 lead. Witten, ranked No. 48 in singles, also needed just two sets to finish off 15th-ranked Riske, 6-3, 6-2, to put Kentucky up 3-0.The Commodores would pull even at 3-3 after winning at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles, all in straight sets. At the fourth spot, Stafford was defeated by Falk, 6-2, 6-2. In the second spot, Roels, ranked 75th in singles, was unable to get into a rhythm and fell, 6-3, 6-1, to No. 68 Tsoubanos. At No. 3, Buckley dropped her first set to Schmandt, 6-4, and then battled hard in the second set before falling 6-2.
Then at No. 6 singles, freshman Shannon Stough showed the home crowd that the future of UK women’s tennis will be bright for at least the next four years. After dropping her first set, 6-2, to Menees, Stough took the second 6-3. In the third set, the two went at each other with everything they had, battling to a 4-4 tie. In the ninth game, Menees broke Stough’s serve to go up 5-4. Stough would then break back and tie the set 5-5, before taking a one-game lead 6-5. In the deciding game, Stough and Menees played at a level rarely seen in collegiate tennis. With Menees serving, Stough jumped out to a quick lead, Love-30, but Menees would fight back and take the lead 40-30. Stough was able to force three deuce points before overtaking the Commodore sophomore and winning the set, 7-5, to clinch the team victory for the Cats.
“That last match was played at an extremely high level,” Guilbeau said. “Shannon is a tough competitor and she showed that today.”
The Cats extended their winning streak to seven and have won 16 of their last 18 matches. This was Kentucky’s final match before next week’s SEC Tournament, which begins Thursday, Apr. 17.
Agate:
#14 Kentucky 4, #10 Vanderbilt 3
Doubles
1. #11 Sarah Witten/Amy Trefethen (UK) def. #4 Aleke Tsoubanos/Sarah Riske (VU) 8-4
2. Audra Falk/Kelly Schmandt (VU) def. Leigh Bradwell/Jill Buckley (UK) 8-4
3. Shannon Stafford/Nathalie Roels (UK) def. Ashley Schellas/Annie Menees (VU) 8-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. #49 Sarah Witten (UK) def. #15 Sarah Riske (VU) 6-3; 6-2
2. #68 Aleke Tsoubanos (VU) def. #75 Nathalie Roels (UK) 6-3; 6-1
3. Kelly Schmandt (VU) def. Jill Buckley (UK) 6-4; 6-2
4. Audra Falk (VU) def. Shannon Stafford (UK) 6-2; 6-2
5. Amy Trefethen (UK) def. Ashley Schellas (VU) 6-1; 6-1
6. Shannon Stough (UK) def. Annie Menees (VU) 2-6; 6-3; 7-5
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 4, 2, 3, 6*
*Clinched victory
