LEXINGTON ? The 22nd-ranked Kentucky women?s tennis team puts its seven-match win streak on the line Friday afternoon when it hosts Mississippi State at 3 p.m. at the Boone Tennis Center.
The Wildcats have not lost since Feb. 18, taking on all comers and pushing out to the program?s best start in more than 20 years at 13-1. Included in the current win streak is a 4-0 start in Southeastern Conference play, that has UK tied atop the league standings with No. 1 Georgia. The weekend wraps up for Kentucky on Sunday when it hosts the other SEC team from the Magnolia state, Ole Miss in a Noon contest.
?We are prepared to play two tough conference matches this weekend,? Kentucky coach Carlos Drada said. ?We will give our best and look forward to a successful weekend.?
Kentucky has been able to pencil in three of the four points necessary for victory this year. Senior Joelle Schwenk and freshman Sarah Woestmann have been virtually automatic at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Each holds a 13-1 dual match record and the 122nd-ranked Schwenk has won 16 of her last 17 dating back to the fall. All 16 wins during the run have been in straight sets.
Woestmann, who enrolled in January just prior to the start of the season, has been just as impressive. The German has dropped only five sets in her collegiate career and has won an incredible 14 sets at one or love.
Kentucky?s doubles lineup has been strong as well, winning the point in 11 of 13 matches played. Schwenk and fellow senior Kim Coventry form the nation?s fifth-ranked tandem and are 18-3 dating back to the fall. The pair tops the lineup while Woestmann and sophomore Carolina Escamilla fill in the second spot.
At No. 2, Woestmann and Escamilla are a dominant 10-2, holding half their opponents to four games or less in the eight-game pro-sets. Of late, freshmen Christine Johnston and Whitney Spencer have teamed up at No. 3. The pair is 2-0 in conference action.
Spencer and sophomore Jessica Giuggioli have each come up with big singles wins during UK?s hot start in conference play. At Auburn in the SEC opener, Spencer overcame a partisan crowd and a tough opponent to score the clinching point with a three-set victory in a 4-3 UK win.
A week later against LSU, Giuggioli rallied from a set down against LSU to put the finishing touches on the Wildcats 4-3 victory over the 32nd-ranked Tigers.
Mississippi State enters Friday?s contest with a 5-6 overall mark, including 1-3 in SEC action. The Bulldogs downed Alabama last time out, 5-2, to get their first win in conference play. The team features the 55th-ranked doubles pair in the nation in Renee Joseph and Daniela Juskova.
