The No. 13 Kentucky women?s tennis team recorded its second victory in two days over a ranked opponent Saturday when they held off No. 29 Texas A&M 4-3 at the Tennis Center in College Park, Md. UK improved to 5-0 on the early season.
The Cats began the day by claiming the doubles point. After UK lost the first doubles contest, the Cats came back to win a pair of close matches to gain the early 1-0 lead. Senior Danielle Petrisko and junior Caroline Winebrenner won the Cats? first match by turning back TAMU?s Seva Iwinski and Nicki Mechem 9-7. To clinch the doubles point the Kentucky duo of Lara Maurer and Carolina Escamilla squeezed past A&M?s Anna Blagodarova and Tiffany Clifford 9-7.
In singles play, Kentucky won the their first two matches to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. Reigning Southeastern Conference Co-Player of the Week Petrisko opened singles action with a 6-0, 6-0, sweep of TAMU?s Marisa Druss. Junior Kim Coventry notched the team?s second singles victory when she swept former Wildcat Sarah Foster 6-3, 6-0.
Texas A&M then came back to win three straight against Escamilla, freshman Jessica Giuggioli and senior Joelle Schwenk. The three straight losses set up another pressure packed final match similar to Monday?s outing against Louisville. This time junior Maurer came through for the Cats when they most needed a win. The Bay Village, Ohio, native improved her dual match record to 5-0 this year by defeating the Aggies’ Blagodarova. Blagodarova took the first set 4-6 before Maurer rebounded to win two straight 6-4, 6-4, to give Kentucky the win.
?Today was a great team effort,? head coach Carlos Drada said. ?We worked extremely hard and showed a lot of composure. I would like to congratulate Lara Maurer for coming through with a victory under great pressure.?
?This win will create a lot of momentum for us as we head to the National Indoor Championships next week.?
The Wildcats will return to action next Thursday when they take part in the ITA National Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisc. Last season UK reached the finals of this prestigious tournament for the first time in school history. This year?s NIC field will include national powers Stanford, Duke and Texas. Fans can check ukathletics.com for recaps of all the tournament?s action.
No. 13 Kentucky defeats No. 29 TAMU 4-3
SINGLES
1. (#53) Kim Coventry (UK) def. Sarah Foster (A&M) – 6-3, 6-0
2. Anna Lubinsky (A&M) def. Joelle Schwenk( UK) – 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Lara Maurer (UK) def. (#51) Anna Blagodarova (A&M) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Nicki Mechem (A&M) def. Carolina Escamilla (UK) – 6-3, 6-3
5. Tiffany Clifford (A&M) def. Jessica Giuggioli (UK) – 6-3, 7-6 (2)
6. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Marisa Druss (A&M) – 6-0, 6-0
DOUBLES (Kentucky wins the point)
1. (#29) Foster/Lubinsky (A&M) def. (#18) Coventry/Schwenk (UK) – 8-3
2. Escamilla/Maurer (UK) def. Blagodarova/Clifford (A&M) -9-7
3. Petrisko/Winebrenner (UK) def. Seva Iwinski/Mechem (A&M) – 9-7
