Oct. 26, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team finished the first day of action at the Tennessee Fall Invite in Knoxville, Tenn., taking three matches in singles vs. Ohio State and one match against Tennessee in doubles play.
After falling in the first set, senior Jessica Stiles stormed back to take the final two sets and defeat Kara Cecil 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Junior Khristina Blajkevitch came back from a first set loss as well, beating Nicole Flower 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Freshman Nadia Ravita persevered to come back from a 2-6, first-set loss to fight off Kelsey Dieters in the final two sets, 7-5, 7-5.
Junior Caitlin McGraw fell in a closely contested three-set match to Gabby Steele, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Sophomore Stephanie Fox took the second set, 7-5, from Noelle Malley before falling in three sets, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Freshman Kirsten Lewis was defeated by Fidan Manashirova, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1.
Following singles play, Kentucky squared up with Tennessee for doubles play.
To add to her singles win, Ravita tallied a doubles win, partnering with fellow freshman Lewis. The duo defeated Sarah Toti and Mimi Fotopoulos 8-1.
Blajkevitch teamed up with Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff to face Joanna Henderson and Caitlyn Williams, falling 8-1. McGraw and Stiles took the court together and fell 8-3 to Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely.
The Wildcats return to action at 10 a.m. on Saturday to face NC State in singles action. Doubles play will follow; with Kentucky going against Ohio State at 1 p.m. Tennessee and NC State will also square off at 1 p.m. in doubles competition.
Draws are not determined until the beginning of each day, with the coaches setting the lineups daily. The tournament winner will be determined by a points system, based on singles and doubles play wins.
Tennessee will host a live blog on utsports.com to announce lineups and match results throughout the day. Results will also be available on Twitter @voltennis_event.
Tennessee Fall Invite
Knoxville, Tenn.
Oct. 26-28, 2012
Friday Doubles Competition:
Ravita/Lewis (UK) def. Toti/Fotopoulos (Tennessee) 8-4
Henderson/Williams (Tennessee) def. Blajkevitch/Morin-Kougoucheff (UK) 8-1
Boren/Szekely (Tennessee) def. McGraw/Stiles (UK) 8-3
Friday Singles Competition:
Jessica Stiles (UK) def. Kara Cecil (Ohio State) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Khristina Blajkevitch (UK) def. Nicole Flower (Ohio State) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Kelsey Dieters (Ohio State) 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
Gabby Steele (Ohio State) def. Caitlin McGraw (UK) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Noelle Malley (Ohio State) def. Stephanie Fox (UK) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
Fidan Manashirova (Ohio State) def. Kirsten Lewis (UK) 2-6, 7-6, 6-1
