April 9, 2009
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 23 Kentucky women’s tennis team (12-6 overall, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) will hit the road to face No. 13 Tennessee (13-4, 6-2 SEC) and No. 2 Georgia (17-2, 7-1 SEC) this weekend. The Cats take on the Lady Vols Friday at 4 p.m. ET in Knoxville, and will remain on the road to challenge the top-ranked Bulldogs Sunday at 1 p.m ET in Athens.
Once again, Kentucky split its previous weekend’s matches, first falling to No. 27 Ole Miss, 5-2, but then sweeping the Mississippi State Bulldogs 7-0 in straight sets at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex. This weekend will conclude UK’s regular season road schedule.
Leading the team in singles are freshman Caroline Lilley and junior Christine Johnston who each have 13 wins. Johnston went two-for-two against MSU and Ole Miss while also capturing both her doubles matches with sophomore partner Megan Broderick. Another doubles tandem that has been seeing great success is the court-three duo of junior Whitney Spencer and sophomore Lauren Meier. They remain undefeated in conference play.
Looking ahead at the upcoming matches, Tennessee holds an impressive 6-2 mark in the SEC, losing only to No. 16 Florida and No. 15 Arkansas. The Lady Vols are coming off a 5-2 victory over No. 29 Auburn, led by sophomore Jennifer Meredith, who clinched her 12th straight singles win. The Volunteers will host the Wildcats after securing their third consecutive win. Kentucky ties Tennessee in the series for an overall series record of 16-16. In 2008 the Cats upset the then No. 17 Lady Vols in Lexington, 5-2.
Georgia has made a remarkable 7-1 run in league play while also incurring only one other loss. The Bulldogs have only been defeated by No. 1 Northwestern and No. 16 Florida. UGA most recently upended No. 25 Alabama, 6-1. Four Bulldogs hold winning streaks in singles, including Naoko Ueshima, who leads the team with 19 straight wins (25-5 overall). Cameron Ellis adds eight-straight victories (26-3 overall) while Nadja Gilchrist tallies six (28-8). The Bulldogs hold a 25-11 advantage over the Wildcats.
Kentucky will return to Lexington Saturday, April 18 to host No. 17 Vanderbilt to close out the regular season. The SEC Tournament will be held the following week, April 23-26, in Fayetteville, Ark.
