Seven Kentucky newcomers accounted for each UK singles and doubles victory in the Cats? season-opening 6-1 win over Murray State and 7-0 romp over Louisville Sunday at UK?s Hilary J. Boone Indoor Tennis Center.
The Cats got going early in doubles play behind freshmen Joelle Schwenk and Lara Maurer. The pair defeated the Racers? Melissa Spencer and Jaclyn Leeper before freshmen Sarah Foster and Liis Sober finished off Jennifer Ward and Tami McQueen to give the Cats the doubles point.
In singles play, Schwenk wasted little time in dispatching Leeper at No. 2, winning 6-1, 6-0. Foster followed shortly thereafter with a 6-0, 6-45 win at No. 2 over Spencer for a 3-0 UK lead. UK?s Sober battled from a 4-3 third-set deficit to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, clinching the match for the Cats. Freshman Christine Simpson added a solid two-set victory over Christina Hall and freshman Caroline Winebrenner came from behind to win in three sets over Casady Pruitt.
After battling with a scrappy Murray State team, the Cats were in no mood for a challenge from Louisville and acted accordingly. The UK doubles pairs of Foster-Kalsarieva, Schwenk-Maurer and Simpson-Winebrenner dusted off the Cards with relative ease to capture the doubles point. The 23rd-ranked Kalsarieva scored an easy 6-1, 6-1 victory over Leslie Stewart for a 2-0 Kentucky lead. Schwenk carried her solid play against Murray State into the Louisville match, winning by a 6-0, 6-3 count over Kelly Taylor at the No. 3 position.
Foster rebounded from a shaky second set to defeat Michele Spiess, 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the second Wildcat victory on the day. Maurer regained her singles touch, dispatching Julia Hierl in straight sets, and Winebrenner helped widen the Kentucky margin on her hometown Cards with a straight setter over Christina Gogol. Simpson rallied from a first-set loss to push her match at No. 6 to a third-set where she won in a 10-point tiebreaker.
UK Coach Mark Guilbeau was thrilled by the progress of his young team.
?Matches like these tell you a great deal about this group of newcomers. To give us the confidence as a coaching staff to start an all-freshman lineup against Murray State speaks volumes about them, and that?s an important statement. I am so impressed by how well they all played,? Guilbeau said.
Guilbeau also was impressed by a stingy bunch of Racers. ?I would like to give Murray State a lot of credit. They were so competitive and Coach Keasling always does a great job preparing her teams.?
Guilbeau noted the presence of the battled-tested Kalsarieva in the lineup against Louisville.
?Putting (Aibika) Kalsarieva in at No. 1 was quite a boost. Her determination and level of tennis is a great leadership factor on this team.?
The Cats open 2004 at 2-0. Kentucky welcomes Marshall and Middle Tennessee State to the Boone Tennis Complex next Saturday, Jan. 24. The Cats battle the Thundering Herd at 10 a.m. before meeting the Blue Raiders at 4 p.m.
Kentucky 6, Murray State 1 Doubles 1. Schwenk/Maurer (UK) def. Spencer/Leeper (MSU) ? 8-2 2. A. Lask/R. Lask (MSU) def. Kalsarieva/Simpson (UK) ? 8-1 3. Foster/Sober (UK) def. Ward/McQueen (MSU) ? 8-2
Singles 1. Sarah Foster (UK) def. Melissa Spencer (MSU) ? 6-0, 6-4 2. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Jaclyn Leeper (MSU) ? 6-1, 6-0 3. Anna Lask (MSU) def. Lara Maurer (UK) ? 7-6, 6-4 4. Liis Sober (UK) def. Jennifer Ward (MSU) ? 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 5. Caroline Winebrenner (UK) def. Casady Pruitt (MSU) ? 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 6. Christine Simpson (UK) def. Christina Hall (MSU) ? 6-4, 6-3
Kentucky 7, Louisville 0 Doubles 1. Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) def. Spiess/Stewart (UL) ? 8-4 2. Schwenk/Maurer (UK) def. Gogol/Taylor (UL) ? 8-2 3. Simpson/Winebrenner (UK) def. Laszkowski/Eber (UL) ? 8-4
Singles 1. No. 23 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. Leslie Stewart (UL) ? 6-1, 6-1 2. Sarah Foster (UK) def. Michele Spiess (UL) ? 6-2, 6-4 3. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Kelly Taylor (UL) ? 6-0, 6-3 4. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Julia Hierl (UL) ? 6-3, 6-1 5. Caroline Winebrenner (UK) def. Christina Gogol (MSU) ? 6-3, 6-2 6. Christine Simpson (UK) def. Natalie Laszkowski (MSU) ? 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (TB)
