March 28, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 34 University of Kentucky women’s tennis team snapped a three-game losing streak with a key Southeastern Conference win on Friday afternoon, blanking the No. 20 Auburn Tigers, 4-0, in the Wildcats’ first win over a top-25 team this season at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center.
“We spent the week talking about competing emotionally, competing mentally, playing with their hearts and playing for something bigger than winning or losing their own matches,” assistant coach Kevin Calhoun said. “We talked about owning your court, that’s what Nadia (Ravita) was able to do in her first set and that’s what Aldila (Sutjiadi) was able to do when she was down. They came out today and really wanted to win on every court.”
Coming off of a tough 4-3 loss to Tennessee, Kentucky dealt Auburn its fourth loss of the dual match season and just its third loss in conference play.
Junior Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff and sophomore Kirsten Lewis opened the match with an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles. The UK tandem edged Jackie Kasler and Paula De Man and claimed another conference win. One step closer to winning the doubles competition, attention turned towards No. 2 and No. 1 doubles. Both in a tiebreaker, senior duo Caitlin McGraw and Cece Witten on court one, were the first court to win and claim the doubles point. McGraw and Witten knocked off No. 19 Pleun Burgmans and Emily Flickinger, 8-7 (6) and ended the Tigers’ 13-match win streak, which included wins over six ranked opponents and two in the top 25. The win for McGraw and Witten was their first win over a top 25 opponent.
Kentucky claimed the doubles point and lead the Tigers, 1-0. This was just the third time this season that Auburn has lost the doubles.
“We knew they were a really good team, but just going in there confident, getting an early lead and playing doubles the way we know we can, really helped us,” Witten said. “I just wanted to do anything I could to help my team.”
Junior Kelsey Dieters extended Kentucky’s lead with her decisive win at No. 3 singles. The Shelby Twp, Mich., native flew past Paula de Man, 6-3, 6-1 and put Kentucky up, 2-0.
Sutjiadi followed with a win of her own at No. 2 singles. The freshman handed Auburn’s leader No. 75 Flickinger just her third singles loss of the dual match season. Sutjiadi won the first with little contest, 6-1, but struggled in the second. Down 3-0, the Jakarta, Indonesia, native responded and took the second set, 7-5. Her win put the Wildcats up 3-0 against the Tigers.
Down to match point, No. 65 Nadia Ravita delivered a clinching win against No. 32 Pleun Burgmans. In a first set tiebreaker, Ravita won 7-6 (5) and finished Burgmans off with a 6-4 win in the second set, winning by a break in the final frame.
“We had a bad match against Tennessee last week, so we had to be strong against Auburn,” Ravita said. “I really wanted to win this year especially since she won last year so I just took it one point at a time and it paid off.”
Kentucky is now 15-6, 5-4 SEC this season and will take on No. 6 Alabama, Sunday, March 30 to finish its home dual match season. The match will begin 12 p.m. ET. Preluding the match, Kentucky will host senior day activities to honor its two seniors, Cece Witten and Caitlin McGraw.
Agate
No. 34 Kentucky 4, No. 20 Auburn 0
Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center – Lexington, Ky.
March 28, 2014
Singles (Order of finish: 3, 2, 1*)
1 – Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Pleun Burgmans (AU), 7-6 (5), 6-4
2 – Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) def. Emily Flickinger, 6-1, 7-5
3 – Kelsey Dieters (UK) def. Paula de Man (AU), 6-3, 6-1
4 – Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff (UK) vs. Michala Kucharova (AU), 4-6, 6-1, 3-1, DNF
5 – Caitlin McGraw (UK) vs. Jackie Kasler (AU), 2-1 DNF
6 – Taylor Lederman (UK) vs. Jen Pfeifler (AU), DNF
Doubles (Order of finish: 3, 1*)
1 – Caitlin McGraw/ Cece Witten (UK) def. Emily Flickinger/ Pleun Burgmans (AU), 8-7 (6)
2 – Nadia Ravita/ Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) vs. Jen Pfeifler/ Michala Kucharova (AU), 7-7 DNF
3 – Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff/ Kirsten Lewis (UK) def. Jackie Kasler/ Paula De Man (AU), 8-5