Wildcats Dominate Home-Opening Weekend
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 20 Kentucky women’s tennis team picked up two
wins during its home-opening weekend, lengthening its win streak to seven and
its overall record to 8-1. Sunday’s wins came against the No. 75 Michigan State
Spartans, 5-2, and instate foe Eastern Kentucky, 6-1.
“It was a great
way to start the season at home,” head coach Carlos Dradá said. “Our players
came out with a lot of energy. For us to continue to improve, we’re going to
have to take care of every match like we did today.”
In doubles,
Morgan Chumney and Akvile Paražinskaite struck first for the Wildcats
with a 6-3 win over Michigan State’s Allie Baer and Athen Truillot. It was the
duo of Justina Mikulskyte and Nadia Ravita that clinched the doubles point at court
No. 3, 6-3, and gave Kentucky an early 1-0 lead.
Moving to singles, Ravita won
at the No. 3 position after only giving up one game her entire match to
Truillot. The senior from Indonesia picked up her fourth win of the season.
UK newcomer Morgan Chumney
emerged victorious at No. 4 singles over Aslina Chua after not giving up a game
through the first five of the opening set. She would go on to take the first
set, 6-1. Down 2-1 in the second set, Chumney battled back to take it 6-4 and
extend the Wildcats’ lead to 3-0.
None other than
the freshman, Mikulskyte, clinched the match for Kentucky in No. 1
singles. In the first set, the Lithuanian native didn’t give up a point for two
straight games and won the last three to take the set, 6-3. Games were traded
with Michigan State’s Erin Faulkner in the second set, but Mikulskyte won the
last two and didn’t give up any points in the final game to take the set, 6-3,
and clinch the match for the Wildcats.
Play continued and No. 59
Aldila Sutjiadi led 5-3 in the first set, but let Davina Nguyen battle back to
draw even at 5-5. That set went to a tiebreak, in which Sutjiadi jumped out to
an early 6-1 lead and ultimately ended up taking the tiebreak to win the first
set. From there, the second set was pure dominance without conceding a single
game to win the set, 6-0, take the match, and extend Kentucky’s lead to 5-0.
The Wildcats fed off the
success they had in the morning session and replicated it in the second match
of the day.
To start, both of UK’s doubles
pairs won their matches without losing a game. Mikulskyte and Ravita were first
to strike by blanking EKU’s Viktorija Demcenkova and Margaux Lacroix on court
No. 2, 6-0. This time it was Kate Lanier and Sutjiadi securing the doubles
point with another 6-0 win at No. 3 doubles.
At one time during singles
play, three Wildcats had 5-0 leads in the first set on courts one, three, and
four.
Ravita continued her astounding
performance as she only gave up one game the entire day, which came against
Michigan State earlier. She won both sets of the second match at No. 3 singles
against Marina Marti Hernanz, 6-0, giving her a 4-1 record on the season and
the Wildcats a 2-0 lead over the Colonels.
Sutjiadi picked up her second
win of the day with a 6-1 victory in the first set. After dropping the first
game of the second set and facing a 4-1 deficit, Sutjiadi stormed back and won
the next five games to take the second set and the match against the Ohio
Valley Conference Female Tennis Athlete of the Week, Demcenkova. She now moves
to a 7-1 overall record.
For the second time today, Mikulskyte
clinched the match at No. 1 singles after controlling the first set, 6-1. The
freshman dropped the first game in the second set and faced a 2-1 deficit, but
regained the lead and won the second set, 6-3. Mikulskyte now owns a 7-1 record
this season.
Chumney didn’t give up a game
until after the third of the second set. The Oklahoma transfer exchanged games
with EKU’s Corentine Bodin until a score of 5-5, but ultimately ended up
winning the set, 6-5, and extended UK’s lead to 5-0. She extends her win streak
to five matches and is still undefeated.
Paražinskaite also picked up a
win Sunday at No. 5 singles after taking the first set, 6-4, and second set,
6-0.
The Wildcats only lost six of
29 total sets this weekend.
“I’m very excited that our
players are receiving the information and trying to implement it,” Dradá said.
“I think we’re making steps in the right direction and I think we’re putting
ourselves in great position for the beginning of the SEC and the nonconference
matches that we have coming up. It’s very positive and hopefully we can
maintain the energy going forward.”
Kentucky’s next match is
Wednesday Feb. 24, at 10 a.m. in the Boone Center against Indiana.
Agate
No. 20 Kentucky 5, No.
75 Michigan State 2
Hilary J. Boone
Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
February 21, 2016
Singles (Order of
finish: 3-4-1*-2-6-5)
1 – Justina Mikulskyte (UK) def. Erin
Faulkner (MSU), 6-3, 6-3.
2 – Aldila Sutjiadi
(UK) def. Davina Nguyen (MSU), 7-6, 6-0.
3 – Nadia Ravita (UK)
def. Athena Truillot (MSU), 6-0, 6-1.
4 – Morgan Chumney (UK)
def. Aslina Chua (MSU), 6-1, 6-4.
5 – Emily Metcalf (MSU) def. Akvile Paražinskaite (UK), 6-1, 5-7, 1-0.
6 – Emily Meyers (MSU) def. Kate Lanier (UK), 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles (Order of
finish: 2-1-3*)
1 – Morgan Chumney/
Akvile Paražinskaite (UK) def. Allie Baer/Athena Truillot (MSU), 6-3
2 – Emily Metcalf/Emily Meyers (MSU) def. Kate Lanier/ Adila Sutjiadi (UK), 6-1
3 – Justina Mikulskyte/Nadia
Ravita (UK) def. Davina Nguyen/Aslina Chua (MSU), 6-3
No. 20 Kentucky 6,
Eastern Kentucky 1
Hilary J. Boone
Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
February 21, 2016
Singles (Order of
finish: 3-2-1*-4-5-6)
1 – Justina Mikulskyte (UK) def. Laura
Argente Escamilla (EKU), 6-1, 6-2.
2 – Aldila Sutjiadi
(UK) def. Viktorija Demcenkova (EKU), 6-1, 6-4.
3 – Nadia Ravita (UK)
def. Marina Marti Hernanz (EKU), 6-0, 6-0.
4 – Morgan Chumney
(UK) def. Corentine Bodin (EKU), 6-0, 7-5.
5 –Akvile
Paražinskaite (UK) def. Raquel Montalvo Perez (EKU), 6-4, 6-0.
6 – Margaux Lacroix (EKU) def. Kate Lanier (UK), 8-6.
Doubles (Order of
finish: 2-3*)
1 – Morgan Chumney/
Akvile Paražinskaite (UK) vs. Laura Agrente Escamilla/Raquel Montalvo Perez
(EKU), abandoned
2 – Justina Mikulskyte/Nadia
Ravita (UK) def. Viktorija Demcenkova/Margaux Lacroix (EKU), 6-0.
3 – Kate Lanier/Adila
Sutjiadi (UK) def. Marina Marti Hernanz/Corentine Bodin (EKU), 6-0.
