No. 25 UK Upsets No. 15 Ole Miss in SEC Opener
Feb. 27, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 25 University of Kentucky women’s tennis team opened Southeastern Conference play with a 4-3 upset win over No. 15 Ole Miss Friday.
The Wildcats (10-4, 1-0 SEC) earned their fourth win over a ranked opponent this season and remained perfect at home with their eighth consecutive win in Lexington in 2015.
“I’m grateful because the players listened and executed the patterns that we’ve been practicing all year,” UK head coach Carlos Drada said. “Things came together. You just have to compete and be hungry the whole time and we did a great job of that. We have to concentrate on some spots a lot better, but as a coach you’re always striving to get better. There are some things that we could do to do improve some of our positions, and if we can do that, it’s going to be exciting to see the outcome.”
The Wildcats opened the match in a big way by taking the doubles point. Aldila Sutjiadi and Mami Adachi claimed a 8-3 victory at No. 1 doubles, and Kelsey Dieters and Taylor Lederman won 8-4 on No. 3 doubles.
Kentucky held a 1-0 lead going into the singles portion of the match.
Sutjiadi lost the first match of singles, but Dieters gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead with a dominating win at court No. 4 over Natalie Suk,6-2, 6-1.
Next to strike for Kentucky was Adachi at No. 3 singles, solidly winning both sets, 6-4, 6-4, which gave the Wildcats a 3-1 lead. Nadia Ravita was defeated by Julia Jones, who is the 14th ranked player in the country to bring Ole Miss within one at 3-2.
Heading into final two matches of the day, Kentucky needed only one win to clinch and pull off the upset over the No. 15-ranked Rebels.
Lederman, who is no stranger to clinching matches, finished the match for Kentucky yet again. She defeated Iris Verboven of Ole Miss with a strong, 6-2, 6-2, performance at No. 6 singles.
The Cats handed Ole Miss its second loss of the season and first in SEC action.
The Wildcats next match will be in Lexington at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Sunday, March 1st against No. 63 Mississippi State. First serve is set for Noon, ET.
No. 25 Kentucky 4, No. 15 Ole Miss 3
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
February 27, 2015
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 2, 3*)
1 – #28 Aldila Sutjiadi/Mami Adachi (UK) def. Iris Verboven/Erin Stephens (MISS), 8-3.
2 – Julia Jones/Natalie Suk (MISS) def. Kirsten Lewis/Nadia Ravita (UK), 8-6.
3 – Kelsey Dieters/Taylor Lederman (UK) def. Mai El Kamash/Arianne Hartono (MISS), 8-4.
Singles (Order of finish: 2, 4, 3, 1, 6*, 5)
1 – #14 Julia Jones (MISS) def. #60 Nadia Ravita (UK), 7-5, 6-2.
2 – #43 Arianne Hartono (MISS) def. Aldila Sutjiadi (UK), 6-1, 6-2.
3 – Mami Adachi (UK) def. #109 Mia El Kamash (MISS), 6-4, 6-4.
4 – Kelsey Dieters (UK) def. Natalie Suk (MISS), 6-2, 6-1.
5 – Erin Stephens (MISS) def. Kirsten Lewis (UK), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0.
6 – Taylor Lederman (UK) def. Iris Verboven (MISS), 6-2, 6-2.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis team, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
