No. 15 Women’s Tennis Extends Win Streak to Double Digits
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 15 Kentucky women’s tennis team picked up two
more wins during its second double header in Lexington this the season. The
Wildcats increased their overall record to 11-1 and win streak to 10 matches
with Sunday’s wins against Samford, 4-0, and UT Martin, 7-0.
“We did a great
job being efficient and hungry,” head coach Carlos Drada said. “We put
ourselves in a great position for the SEC season. I’m very excited for that.
Right now we just need to reset and get ready for next weekend.”
To start the day,
the duo from Lithuania in Justina Mikulskyte and Akvilé Paražinskaite struck
first in doubles on court No. 1 with a win over Samford’s Jessica Northcutt and
Carita Moolman, 6-1. The Samford pairing previously held a 5-1 overall record.
On court No. 2, Nadia Ravita and Kirsten Lewis secured the doubles point to
give Kentucky an early 1-0 lead.
At one point in
singles play, positions 1-3 all had 3-0 leads in the first set.
Ravita extended
the Wildcats’ lead to 2-0 after sweeping the first set and taking the second,
6-3, on court No. 2 over Iva Parapunova.
At No. 1 singles Mikulskyte,
won the first three games of the first set and eventually traded games to make
the score 5-4. She went on to win the first set by a score of 6-4. Thereafter, Mikulskyte
jumped out to a 3-1 advantage in the second set before going on to win the set,
6-1, and the match.
Mami Adachi was back in action
on Sunday and picked up a win at No. 4 singles over Savannah Wood. Adachi
trailed 1-2 in the first set, but won the next three games to take a 4-2 lead.
After winning the first set, 6-3, Adachi dropped the first two games of the
second set before storming back and taking the next six for the set and the
match. The Wildcats clinched the match
with that point and defeated Samford, 4-0.
Samford is now
3-5 on the season.
Kentucky also played
host to the UT Martin Skyhawks in the evening portion of Sunday’s
double-header.
At one point of
the match-opening doubles play, Wildcat duos of Lewis and Ravita and Adachi and
Kate Lanier led both of their matches, 3-0. Adachi and Lanier didn’t give up a
game until the fourth in the first set and struck first for the Wildcats.
Shortly after, Lewis and Ravita clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 win on
court No. 2 to take a 1-0 lead over UT Martin heading into singles.
In singles,
Ravita continued her dominance, winning in straight sets without dropping a
single game. The senior picked up her 62nd career win, has only lost
four games in the last five matches and moves to a record of 12-3 on the season
after two wins in today’s double-header.
Increasing the
Wildcats’ lead to 3-0 was Mikulskyte at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-3
win against UT Martin’s Sarah Candeloro. Mikulskyté trailed 1-2 in the first
set, but battled back to win the next five games, the last without forfeiting a
point. The Lithuanian native finished off the second set and added two wins to
her record, which is now 16-4.
On court No. 2, Paražinskaite jumped
out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set of her match and didn’t drop a game
until the fourth. She went on to win the first set, 6-2. Even though the
freshman lost the first game of the second set, she fought and traded games all
the way to 4-3 before winning the final two to take the match and give Kentucky
its second win on the day. Paražinskaite is now 14-3 overall on the year.
Play continued and Mami Adachi
added another point to UK’s 4-0 lead with another win of her own on court No.
4. After gaining a 3-0 lead in the first set, Adachi would go on to win 6-2
over Burcu Tari heading into the second. Tari won the first game of the second
set, but Adachi took the set 6-3. The sophomore now holds a 14-2 overall
record.
Lewis, in action on court No.
5, didn’t drop a game until the sixth in the first set, which was her only one
dropped of the set. She went on to win her match in a 10-5 tiebreak, increasing
Kentucky’s lead to 5-0.
Finally, Lanier traded games to
4-3 in the first set before ultimately winning the next two games to take the
set, 6-3. She went on to win the second set, 6-4, to end the team match, 7-0.
UT Martin drops to 1-7 on the
season.
Samford and UT Martin are the
fifth and sixth opponents that Kentucky has blanked this season. The Wildcats
only lost one set on the day.
Conference play begins as the Wildcats
travel to Nashville, Tenn., and face defending national champion and currently
fourth-ranked Vanderbilt. The match is scheduled for March 6 with time to be
announced.
Agate
No. 15 Kentucky 4, Samford
0
Hilary J. Boone
Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
February 28, 2016
Singles (Order of finish: 3, 1, 4*)
1 – Justina Mikulskyte (UK) def. Jessica
Northcutt (SAM), 6-4, 6-1.
2 – Akvilé Paražinskaite
(UK) vs. Carita Moolman (SAM), 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
3 – Nadia Ravita
(UK) def. Iva Parapunova (SAM), 6-0, 6-3.
4 – Mami Adachi
def. Savannah Wood (SAM), 6-3, 6-2.
5 – Ellie Gerlach (SAM) vs. Kirsten Lewis (UK), DNP.
6 – Georgina Jupp (SAM) vs. Kate Lanier (UK), DNP.
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 2*)
1 – Justina
Mikulskyte/Akvile Parazinskaite (UK) def. Jessica Northcutt/Carita Moolman
(SAM), 6-1.
2 – Nadi
Ravita/Kirsten Lewis (UK) def. Iva Parapunova/Ellie Gerlach (SAM), 6-3.
3 – Mami Adachi/Kate
Lanier (UK) vs. Savannah Wood/Georgina Jupp (SAM), 5-4, unfinished
No. 15 Kentucky 7, UT
Martin 0
Hilary J. Boone
Tennis Complex – Lexington, Ky.
February 28, 2016
Singles (Order of finish: 3, 1, 2*, 4, 5, 6)
1 – Justina Mikulskyte (UK) def. Sarah
Candeloro (UTM), 6-2, 6-3.
2 – Akvilé
Paražinskaite (UK) def. Hitomi Naito (UTM), 6-2, 6-3.
3 – Nadia Ravita
(UK) def. Jermina Potter (UTM), 6-0, 6-0.
4 – Mami Adachi (UK)
def. Burcu Tari (UTM), 6-2, 6-3.
5 – Kirsten Lewis
(UK) def. Asel Jumamukhambetova (UTM), 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5).
6 – Kate Lanier
(UK) def. Elina Geut (UTM), 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles (Order of finish: 3, 2*)
1 – Justina
Mikulskyte/Akvile Parazinskaite (UK) vs. Sarah Candeloro/Jermina Potter
(UTM), 4-5, unfinished
2 – Kirsten
Lewis/Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Hitomi Naito/Burcu Tari, 6-2.
3 – Mami Adachi/Kate
Lanier (UK) def. Andrea Plantada Cortes/Asel Jumamukhambetova (UTM), 6-1.
