March 5, 2010
STARKVILLE, Miss. — The No. 72 Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the Kentucky women’s tennis team 5-2 for their first Southeastern Conference loss on the young season on Friday at A. J. Pitts Tennis Center.
The 69th-ranked Wildcats (1-8) suffer their first conference loss at No. 72 Mississippi State. The Wildcats stole wins on courts 1 and 3 by UK sophomore Caroline Lilley and senior Christine Johnston (Columbus, Ohio), respectively.
UK captain Johnston challenged Mississippi State’s Natalia Mayuk in the toughest match of the day at No. 3 singles, taking the first set 7-6 (4). Mayuk stayed tough in the second, but Johnston came out victorious with a 7-5 second-set victory that would seal the match for the Wildcat senior.
Lilley, a native of Portland, Ore., had a come from behind win to take Kentucky’s second point of the match. Lilley battled Bulldog Radka Ferancova to the wire on court No. 2. Lilley fell 4-6 in the first set, but stormed back in the second answering with her own 6-4 set win. With the team match having already been decided, the two faced off in the super tiebreaker and Lilley came out victorious 10-8.
Although she was coming off a great win at Indiana, sophomore Minnette Pienaar could not repeat, and underwent a tough loss at No. 4 singles to Mariia Ryzhova, 6-3, 6-2. Top Wildcat player, junior Megan Broderick faced Bulldog sophomore Olesya Tsigvintseva and almost had the first set, but ultimately was taking down 7-6 (2), 7-5.
The Bulldogs nabbed the doubles point winning on all three courts. On court one, Wildcat tandem Lilley and Pienaar were bested by the team of Tsigvintseva and Mayuk, 8-6. UK’s junior and senior pair of Broderick and Johnston suffered defeat at the hands of Bulldog team of Ferancova and Ryzhova. It was the same story for the two Lexington natives who make up the No. 3 doubles duo, Elle Coldiron and Nicole Scates, freshman and junior, respectively. The score on court three was 8-0.
Kentucky sees its second opponent of a two-match Mississippi road trip in Ole Miss on Sunday, March 6. The Wildcats will face the Rebels in Oxford, Mississippi at noon EST. No. 38 Ole Miss comes off of the SEC opponent upset of No. 18 Vanderbilt (5-2).
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for complete coverage of UK women’s tennis.
AGATE
No. 72 Mississippi State University (8-1, 1-0 SEC), No. 69 Kentucky (1-8, 0-1 SEC)
Singles
1. Olesya Tsigvintseva (MSU) def. Megan Broderick (UK) 7-6 (2), 7-5
2. Caroline Lilley (UK) def. Radka Ferancova (MSU) 4-6, 6-4, (10-8)
3. Christine Johnston (UK) def. Natalia Mayuk (MSU) 7-6 (4), 7-5
4. Mariia Ryzhova (MSU) def. Minnette Pienaar (UK) 6-2, 6-3
5. Valeriya Makarycheva (MSU) def. Elle Coldiron (UK) 6-0, 6-0
6. Danielle Terpko (MSU) def. Nicole Scates (UK) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. Olesya Tsigvintseva/Natalia Mayuk (MSU) def. Caroline Lilley/Minnette Pienaar (UK) 8-6
2. Radka Ferancova/Mariia Ryzhova (MSU) def. Christine Johnston/Megan Broderick (UK) 8-3
3. Valeriya Makarycheva/Danielle Terpko (MSU) def. Nicole Scates/Elle Coldiron (UK) 8-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (5, 6, 4, 2, 1, 3)
