MADISON, Wisc. ? Junior Kim Coventry (Melbourne, Australia) knocked off the 12th-ranked singles player in the nation, but it wasn?t enough as the No. 12 Kentucky women?s tennis team dropped its second consecutive match to No. 5 Northwestern, 5-2 on Friday. The consolation match-up in the USTA-ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships was played at the University of Wisconsin?s A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The Wildcats (5-2) will play Georgia Tech in a consolation match at 10 a.m. EST Saturday, while Northwestern (2-1) faces Georgia at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Kentucky struggled in the early going, dropping the doubles point. Northwestern?s Nazlie Ghazal and Jamie Peisel made quick work of Danielle Petrisko (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Caroline Winebrenner (Louisville, Ky.) 8-3. Cristelle Grier and Georgia Rose clinched the doubles point by topping the 18th-ranked UK tandem of Coventry and Joelle Schwenk (Coconut Creek, Fla.), 8-1. The Cats? duo of Carolina Escamilla (Medellin, Antioquia, Columbia) and Lara Maurer (Bay Village, Ohio) battled NU?s Alexis Prousis and Feriel Esseghir to take an 8-7 (5) victory by winning the tiebreaker.
Coventry, the nation?s 53rd ranked tennis player, picked up her biggest win of the season, easily topping 12th-ranked Prousis 6-3, 6-2. Rose took a 6-2, 6-4 win over Mauer, before Northwestern?s Esseghir prevailed in a hard fought 6-4, 7-6 (5) match with Jessica Giuggioli (Tarino, Italy).
Schwenk dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to the 23rd-ranked Grier, and Petrisko took a hard-fought loss to Ghazal. Petrisko lost the first set 6-3 before storming back to win the second set 6-4. She then fell 1-0 (10-4) in the tiebreaker. In the final singles position, Escamilla won the first set over Peisel before falling 7-5 in the second set. Escamilla outlasted Peisel 1-0 (13-11) for the win.
The Wildcats return to action at 10 a.m. Saturday. A complete recap and live statistics will be available on ukathletics.com.
No. 5 Northwestern 5, No. 12 Kentucky 2 (February 3, 2006 ? Madison, Wisc.)
Doubles
Cristelle Grier/Georgia Rose (NU) def. Kim Coventry/Joelle Schwenk (UK), 8-1
Carolina Escamilla/Lara Maurer (UK) def. Alexis Prousis/Feriel Esseghir (NU), 8-7 (5)
Nazlie Ghazal/Jamie Peisel (NU) def. Danielle Petrisko/Caroline Winebrenner (UK), 8-3
Singles
Kim Coventry (UK) def. Alexis Prousis (NU), 6-3, 6-2
Cristelle Grier (NU) def. Joelle Schwenk (UK), 6-4, 6-4
Georgia Rose (NU) def. Lara Maurer (UK), 6-2, 6-4
Carolina Escamilla (UK) def. Jamie Peisel (NU), 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (13-11)
Feriel Esseghir (NU) def. Jessica Giuggioli (UK) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Danielle Petrisko (UK) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4)
