Starkville, Miss. ? The No. 29 Kentucky women?s tennis team improved its record to 4-1 in Southeastern Conference action Friday with a 7-0 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss. The victory against the Bulldogs was the Cats? third straight and marked the third time this season that UK blanked an opponent by a score of 7-0.
UK began the contest by sweeping all three doubles matches to go up 1-0. The team of senior Danielle Petrisko and junior Caroline Winebrenner recorded UK?s first victory by defeating MSU?s Renee Joseph and Daniela Juskova 8-5. The win moved the duo?s SEC record to a perfect 5-0. At the No. 1 spot, junior Kim Coventry and freshman Carolina Escamilla turned back the Bulldogs? duo of Anastasia Kugakolova and Polina Kokoulina 8-6, to clinch the point.
In singles action, Kentucky was dominant sweeping all six matches.
Freshman Carolina Escamilla continued her strong play by winning her sixth straight match. The Medellin, Colombia, native recorded the Cats? first singles win by sweeping MSU?s Daniela Juskova 6-4, 6-3.
The next Cat to notch a victory was junior Lara Maurer. The Bay Village, Ohio, native cruised past MSU?s Martina Banikova 6-3, 6-2, for her third straight SEC win.
Helping the Cats move up 4-0 on Mississippi State and clinch the match was Petrisko. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native extended her winning streak to five matches with a straight sets victory over the Bulldogs? Polina Kokoulina 7-5, 6-4.
Picking up UK?s fourth singles victory was freshman Jessica Giuggioli. The Torino, Italy, native swept Elna de Villiers 6-3, 6-3, to move her SEC record to a perfect 5-0.
Rounding out the Cats? day with victories was Coventry and fellow junior Joelle Schwenk. Each went to three sets to help UK claim victory in all nine matches played on the day.
?I am really proud of the efforts from all of our players today,? head coach Carlos Drada said. ?Everyone competed very hard and did a good job of implementing our strategies. I hope this victory gives us a lot of confidence as we head into Sunday?s match against Ole Miss.?
The Cats will conclude their road trip on Sunday when they travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Rebels. The match is slated to begin at 2 p.m. EST. Fans can ukathletics.com for live stats and recap following the match.
No. 29 UK def. MSU 7-0
Doubles
1. No. 43 Kim Coventry/Carolina Escamilla (UK) def. Anastasia Kugakolova/Polina Kokoulina (MSU) 8-6
2. Lara Maurer/Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Martina Banikova/Elna de Villiers (MSU) 8-6
3. Danielle Petrisko/Carolina Winebrenner (UK) def. Renee Joseph/Daniela Juskova (MSU) 8-5
Singles
1. No. 39 Kim Coventry (UK) def. Anastasia Kugakolova (MSU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
2. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Martina Banikova (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Renee Joseph (MSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Polina Kokoulina (MSU) 7-5, 6-4
5. Carolina Escamilla (UK) def. Daniela Juskova (MSU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Jessica Giuggioli (UK) def. Elna de Villiers (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
