March 8, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s tennis team defeated Missouri 5-2 on Friday afternoon in its first home Southeastern Conference match of the spring.
Kentucky opened the match with an early 1-0 lead, winning two of three doubles matches to take the doubles point. Court one was the first to wrap up, with Missouri taking the court 8-2. On court two, sophomore Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff and junior Cece Witten won the doubles match 8-5.
With the doubles score tied 1-1, court three remained to decide the point. Junior Khristina Blajkevitch and senior Jessica Stiles were leading 6-5 when all eyes switched to last court remaining. The tandem didn’t look back, taking the next two points to win the match 8-5.
Freshman Nadia Ravita opened singles play with a quick win for Kentucky, taking court one 6-3, 6-1. Junior Caitlin McGraw followed suit, giving the Wildcats a 3-0 lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win on court four. Up a set, McGraw trailed 4-1 in the second set but won five consecutive games to clinch the match.
With a comfortable 3-0 lead, Stiles clinched the match for Kentucky. The senior’s 7-5, 6-3 win in the No. 2 singles slot notched the Wildcats’ fourth, and match-clinching, point.
With the match clinched, play continued on courts three, five and six. Morin-Kougoucheff increased the Wildcats’ lead to 5-0 with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the No. 3 singles spot.
After winning the first set 6-2, freshman Kirsten Lewis was forced to abandon the No. 5 singles match down 4-1 in the second set, giving the Tigers their first point of the match.
Sophomore Stephanie Fox fell in a 10-point tiebreaker after splitting with Madison Rhyner. The final match concluded the match’s score at 5-2.
The Wildcats will return to the court at noon on Sunday, hosting Texas A&M in what is expected to be Kentucky’s first outdoor home match of the year.
Ranked No. 4 in the country, Texas A&M will face Vanderbilt on Friday before traveling to Lexington to face Kentucky on Sunday. In the first weekend of SEC action, the Aggies defeated South Carolina 5-2 and Florida 4-3. The Aggies are 8-1 on the year and 2-0 in SEC competition.
Live scoring of Sunday’s match will be available on UKwomenstennis.com.
Admission to Sunday’s match is free with free parking available in parking structure No. 7.
Follow Kentucky Women’s tennis on Twitter @UKWomensTennis and Like the Kentucky Women’s Tennis page on Facebook.
No. 44 Kentucky – 5
No. 57 Missouri – 2
Doubles
1 – Alex Clark/Cierra Gaytan-Leach (UM) def. Caitlin McGraw/Nadia Ravita (UK) 8-2
2 – Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff/CeCe Witten (UK) def. Rachel Stuhlmann/Maria Christensen (UM) 8-5
3 – Khristina Blajkevitch/Jessica Stiles (UK) def. Elisha Gabb/Madison Rhyner (UM) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*
Singles
1 – Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Cierra Gaytan-Leach (UM) 6-3, 6-1
2 – Jessica Stiles (UK) def. Rachel Stuhlmann (UM) 7-5, 6-3
3 – Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff (UK) def. Maria Christensen (UM) 6-4, 6-4
4 – Caitlin McGraw (UK) def. Elisha Gabb (UM) 6-4, 6-4
5 – Alex Clark (UM) def. Kirsten Lewis (UK) 2-6, 4-1 abd.
6 – Madison Rhyner (UM) def. Stephanie Fox (UK) 7-5, 4-6, 10-5
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 2*, 3, 5, 6
