KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Unsatisfied by merely a share of a Southeastern Conference championship, the Kentucky women’s tennis team claimed the title for itself Sunday, as sophomore Joelle Schwenk rallied from a one-set deficit to provide the title-clinching point in UK’s 4-3 win over No. 23 Tennessee Sunday in Knoxville. A member of arguably the toughest conference in collegiate tennis, Kentucky collects its first Southeastern Conference and SEC Eastern division titles in women?s tennis.
?We?re all very, very proud of the accomplishments of this team,? UK Coach Mark Guilbeau said. ?Everyone involved in the program is very proud, and it feels good to know that a lot of hard work and a great commitment to develop and improve your games can be rewarded in such a great way. We were not the best team upon completion of last year?s season heading into this year, but I think these kids earned it by working so hard in the summer and continuing the same process day after day through the season.?
Kentucky (21-3, 10-0) started off the match by capturing the doubles point for the eighth time in 10 conference matches. Senior Emily Foster and sophomore Lara Maurer teamed up for an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles over Blakeley Griffith and Ashley Robards. Senior Aibika Kalsarieva and sophomore Sarah Foster added the clinching point with an 8-3 win over Sabita Maharaj and Bryce Marable at the first-doubles position. Sophomores Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk added an 8-5 win at second doubles over Melissa Schaub and Ghizela Schutte to close out doubles play.
UK quickly added to its cushion when Tennessee?s Robards, a Henderson, Ky., native, was forced to retire her match against UK?s Maurer at No. 5 singles due to an injury.
?It was unfortunate for Ashley Robards to suffer the injury,? Guilbeau said. She was playing a good match. Their team handled it very well, and we hope she can come back.? Tennessee (17-7, 6-4) captured three-straight matches to assume the lead. UT?s Schutte defeated UK?s Danielle Petrisko by a 6-3, 6-0 count at the No. 6 slot to cut the Lady Vol deficit to 2-1. Tennessee?s Griffith evened the tally at two with a 6-2, 6-3 win over UK?s Coventry at the second-singles position. The Lady Vols took the lead when UT?s Vicky Jones defeated UK?s Sarah Foster at No. 3, 7-5, 6-0.
UK?s Kalsarieva would even the score at three with a solid win over UT?s Maharaj. Kalsarieva fought off Maharaj to win the first set, 7-5, before cruising to a 6-1 second-set victory to remain unbeaten in her last 17 singles matches.
?Aibika did a great job, without a whole lot of attention from the coaching staff, to really stay with her match and beat a very, very good player,? Guilbeau said. ?Once again, she was extremely professional and determined in beating a very good player?.
Kalsarieva?s win set the stage for Schwenk?s heroics. After leading the first set, 5-2, Schwenk surrendered the final five games, to drop the set to UT?s Marable, 7-5. Schwenk managed a service break late in the second set and went on to force the match to a third set. Schwenk seized control of the match from there, giving the Cats their 10th conference win in as many attempts with a 6-1 third-set win.
?We?re so proud of Joelle for making great decisions and showing great determination to stay in her points, play it the hard way and not take the easy way out,? Guilbeau said. ?From a set down and down in the second set in stages, she accepted the responsibility to play as high-percentage as possible and as many balls as possible without missing. We?re all so proud of her for being strong enough and having the heart to do that.
?I appreciate everything these kids do and how hard they?re willing to work. They deserve to be a very, very happy group. I?d like to thank our athletic trainers, strength coaches and everyone else that works with and supports our program. They?re as much of a part of this as anyone.? Kentucky extends its program-best win streak to 15 matches. The Cats haven?t lost in nearly two months, when UK fell to North Carolina on Feb. 12 without the services of Kalsarieva.
The SEC regular-season title is the first for a University of Kentucky Olympic sport since the school?s women?s soccer program captured the conference title in 1995. The SEC Eastern-division crown is the first for a UK Olympic sport since the Kentucky softball program won the division title in 2000.
Kentucky will attempt to complete its first 11-0 showing in conference play next Saturday, Apr. 16 when the Cats close out the regular season on Senior Day against Vanderbilt. The match is set for 1 p.m. EDT at UK?s Boone Tennis Complex.
No. 5 Kentucky 4, No. 23 Tennessee 3
Doubles
1. No. 7 S. Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) def. Maharaj/Marable (UT) ? 8-3
2. No. 14 Coventry/Schwenk (UK) def. Schaub/Schutte (UT) ? 8-5
3. E. Foster/Maurer (UK) def. Griffith/Robards (UT) ? 8-3
Singles
1. No. 5 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. No. 42 Sabita Maharaj (UT) ? 7-5, 6-1
2. Blakeley Griffith (UT) def. No. 33 Kim Coventry (UK) ? 6-2, 6-3
3. Vicky Jones (UT) def. No. 50 Sarah Foster (UK) ? 7-5, 6-0
4. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Bryce Marable (UT) ? 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
5. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Ashley Robards (UT) ? 2-3, retired
6. Ghizela Schutte (UT) def. Danielle Petrisko (UK) ? 6-3, 6-0
