Feb. 28, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 31 University of Kentucky women’s tennis team earned their first conference win of the spring season when they hosted Louisiana State University, Friday, Feb. 28 at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center. Kentucky routed the Tigers, 4-1.
“Our ladies did a great job playing with discipline during key moments,” Kentucky head coach Carlos Drada said. ” We hope to learn a lot from today’s match and further our improvement against Arkansas and Northern Kentucky on Sunday.”
The doubles competition was smooth for the Wildcats. Senior tandem Caitlin McGraw and Cece Witten battled with Joana Vale Costa and Skylar Holloway in the beginning of their match at the No. 1 doubles spot. The court was tied at two-all, but the UK duo pulled away and won, 8-4. LSU never lead during the match and McGraw and Witten expanded their win streak to 8-0.
The Jakarta, Indonesia natives, Aldila Sutjiadi and Nadia Ravita got off to an early 3-1 lead in the No. 2 doubles position. LSU’s Noel Scott and Ella Taylor responded with a win to pull within a game of Ravita and Sutjiadi, but it wasn’t enough to knock off the 57th nationally ranked pair. The twosome claimed the match, 8-4 and took the doubles point for Kentucky.
In singles play, Sutjiadi was the first Wildcat to get on the board with a win at the No. 2 slot. She kept her lead in the first set, defeating No. 87 Scott, 6-2. In the second set, Scott took the lead once before Sutjiadi won four consecutive games to claim the match and put Kentucky ahead, 2-0. Dieters followed with a well-deserved win at the No. 3 spot over Gabrielle Otero. Dieters won both sets, 6-3.
“Today I felt I was really determined because it was the start of our SEC play so I wanted to start it off right and set the foundation for future matches,” Dieters said. “I was really fired up to do my best and really compete.”
After Kentucky’s road loss to Indiana – only their second loss of the season – practices became more intense and has translated onto the court, especially for 51st nationally ranked Ravita.
Ravita came back from a 6-2 loss in the first set to win 7-5 in the second set, forcing a tiebreak. In the first set, Vale Costa won four straight games to take the lead, 4-1. Ravita pushed back and and within two points, but Vale Costa won, 6-2. In the second set, Ravita was down 5-2, but responded with a four game run of her own to win, 7-5. In the final set, she swept Vale Costa, 6-0, and claimed Kentucky’s first Southeastern Conference win of the year.
“I didn’t want lose like that, especially at home so I just tried to stay focused and move my feet and it paid off,” Ravita said.
Ravita’s emotion-filled play is not only fun to watch, but has led her to a 6-0 (1-0) win streak at the No. 1 singles position. She finished last season, 20-4 (10-3).
Kentucky moves to 11-2 (1-0) for the season and now looks ahead to a doubleheader on Sunday, March 2, against Arkansas and Northern Kentucky. The first match against Arkansas will begin at 11 a.m. ET followed by Northern Kentucky at 5 p.m. ET.
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Agate
No. 31 Kentucky 4, LSU 0
Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center – Lexington, Ky.
Feb. 28, 2014
Singles (Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 1*)
1 – Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Joana Vale Costa (LSU), 6-2, 6-5, 6-0
2 – Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) def. Noel Scott (LSU), 6-2, 6-3
3 – Kelsey Dieters (UK) def. Gabrielle Otero (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
4 – Abigail Owens (LSU) def. Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff (UK), 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
5 – Kirsten Lewis (UK) vs. Ella Taylor (LSU), 4-3 DNF
6 – Caitlin McGraw (UK) vs. Skylar Holloway (LSU), 4-0 DNF
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 2* )
1 – Caitlin McGraw/ Cece Witten (UK) def. Joana Vale Costa/ Skylar Holloway (LSU), 8-4
2 – Nadia Ravita/ Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) def. Noel Scott/ Ella Taylor (LSU), 8-4
3 – Kelsey Dieters/ Kirsten Lewis (UK) vs. Gabriel Otero/ Abigail Owens (LSU), 7-3 DNF
