Feb. 21, 2009

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a 12-day break, the No. 20 University of Kentucky women’s tennis team (6-0 overall, 0-0 conference) will host No. 44 Indiana (7-3, 0-0 Big Ten) Sunday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex at 11 a.m. ET. A win against the Hoosiers will be the program its best start since before 1990.

Last time out the Wildcats took five matches into three sets against the No. 31 Buckeyes, clinching the match on court five with freshman Caroline Lilley coming from behind to win the third and match determining set, 6-4.
 
Thus far, leading the Blue and White are juniors Christine Johnston and Whitney Spencer and newcomer Lilley. Johnston has started the season 6-0; winning five matches on court three with one victory on court one. Spencer has gone 4-for-4 while Lilley is 5-0 while operating in the middle of the line-up. Freshman Minnette Pienaar, who joined the team in January, has only played in one match for the Cats this season and defeated Lisa Wilkinson of Winthrop in a three-set match.

Kentucky’s only ranked singles player, No. 86 Megan Broderick, is 3-2 on court one and currently holds a three-match winning streak. Johnston and senior Carolina Escamilla pair up as the Cats’ top duo on court one and have been ranked as high as No. 16 this season. The tandem is 3-1, only dropping a match to another top-50 pair.

Indiana began the season on a six-match winning streak which was broken by No. 9 Duke. The Hoosiers will be coming to Lexington after being swept 7-0 by Southeastern conference member, Tennessee, in Knoxville.

The Blue and White hold on to a barely there lead in the all-time series over the Hoosiers, 16-15. Kentucky fell to Indiana last year, 4-3, in Bloomington.

The Kentucky women’s tennis program’s 6-0 start ties for the best under head coach Drada as he did it in 2007. Before coach Drada, the most wins at the start of the season was from former head coach Mark Guilbeau grabbing six with his team in 1999.