March 17, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team failed to drop a singles match and took two of three doubles matches on Sunday to defeat Mississippi State 7-0 at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Kentucky opened the match with an early lead, winning two of three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. Court three was the first court to finish, as junior Khristina Blajkevitch and sophomore Stephanie Fox won the match 8-5. The win was the first time this season that Blajkevitch and Fox had been paired in doubles.
Shortly after, play wrapped up on court two as Mississippi State’s Petra Ferancova and Georgiana Patrasc took the No. 2 doubles match 8-5, leaving court one to decide the outcome of the doubles point.
On court one, junior Caitlin McGraw and freshman Nadia Ravita had fallen into a 6-3 hole. The duo slowly worked back into the match, eventually winning five consecutive games to win the match 8-6 and clinch the doubles point for Kentucky.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead with quick singles wins from Ravita and senior Jessica Stiles.
Ravita was the first to finish, taking down Patrasc 6-3, 6-1 to give Kentucky the No. 1 singles point.
On court two, Stiles quickly took the first set 6-2 before winning a close second set. The Wyckoff, N.J., native won three consecutive games to come back from down 5-4 and win the second set 7-5.
Just needing a point to clinch the match, McGraw delivered on court four, winning the match in straight sets to give Kentucky its fourth and match-clinching point.
With the match decided, play continued.
After dropping the first set on court three, sophomore Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff took the second set in a tight tiebreaker and finally clinched the match with a 10-7 win in a third-set tiebreaker.
On courts five and six, freshman Kirsten Lewis and Fox won in straight sets. Lewis defeated Lien Van Geel 6-1, 6-3, while Fox only dropped one game, defeating Roseline Dion 6-1, 6-0.
The Wildcats return to the court on Friday, traveling to Knoxville, Tenn., to face Tennessee.
Kentucky moves to 12-5 on the year and 3-3 in Southeastern Conference play.
Follow Kentucky Women’s tennis on Twitter @UKWomensTennis and Like the Kentucky Women’s Tennis page on Facebook.
No. 38 Kentucky – 7
Mississippi State – 0
Doubles
1 -.Caitlin McGraw/Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Alexandra Perper/Naomi Tran (MSU) 8-6
2 – Petra Ferancova/Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) def. Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff/CeCe Witten (UK) 8-5
3 – Khristina Blajkevitch/Stephanie Fox (UK) def. Sarai Flores/Roseline Dion (MSU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*
Singles
1 – Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Georgiana Patrasc (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
2 – Jessica Stiles (UK) def. Alexandra Perper (MSU) 6-2, 7-5
3 – Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff (UK) def. Naomi Tran (MSU) 3-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (7)
4 – Caitlin McGraw (UK) def. Petra Ferancova (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
5 – Kirsten Lewis (UK) def. Lien Van Geel (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
6 – Stephanie Fox (UK) def. Roseline Dion (MSU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 4*, 3, 5, 6
