Marshall University Athletics
No. 14 Kentucky Knocks Off No. 60 Herd Tennis
1/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
No. 14 Kentucky Knocks Off No. 60 Herd Tennis
1/25/2005
Senior Danielle Hock picked up the Herd's lone victory on the day against UK, 7-6, 1-6 and 10-4 in a match tiebreaker for the third set Photo by Matt Riley |
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Kentucky Wildcats proved why it is the No. 14 ranked team in the nation with a 6-1 victory over the No. 60 Marshall Thundering Herd in women's tennis action Tuesday afternoon at the Hilary J. Boone Indoor Tennis Center in Lexington, Ky.
The Herd, however, did not go down without a fight. Even thought it only won a single match on the day, the Herd put the Wildcats to the test throughout the day from several different positions.
"The good thing was that we were competing up and down the lineup against a very good team and it just shows us how we have to keep working hard to be successful at that level," Thundering Herd senior Danielle Hock (Wigan, England) said.
Hock was the only victorious player on the day for the Herd with a hard-fought, grueling battle at the No. 4 singles position against Christine Simpson for the Wildcats. Hock picked up the win 7-6, 1-6, and 10-4 in a match tiebreaker for the third set.
Kentucky (1-0) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the match by sweeping the doubles point from Marshall (2-1). The Wildcats have two doubles teams ranked in the top 15 in the ITA poll and showed how good they are against the Herd. The No. 11 ranked duo of Joelle Schwenk and Kim Coventry knocked off Marshall's 60th ranked duo of Joelle Good (Zurich, Switzerland) and Hock at the No. 1 position, 8-2.
At the No. 2 spot, the sixth ranked tandem of Aibika Kalsarieva and Sarah Foster downed Ashley Kroh (Louisville, Ky) and Jeanne Schwartz (West Palm Beach, Fla.), 8-1, and to complete the sweep, Lara Maurer and Simpson picked up an 8-6 win over Lille Nzudie (Duoala, Cameroon) and Shannon Brown (Overland Park, Kan.). Brown and Nzudie took a 6-5 lead in the match, but the UK duo came on strong down the stretch to pick up the win and give the 'Cats the advantage in the match.
In singles play, the Wildcats were victorious at every position except for No. 4 where Hock picked up the win.
At No. 1, Kasarieva, the seventh ranked singles player in the nation, defeated Nzudie, 6-1, 6-2. No. 30 ranked Sarah Foster defeated Kroh at the No. 2 spot, 6-3, 6-1 and in a battle of Joelle's, UK's Joelle Schwenk defeated Joelle Good, 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 singles, despite a strong push from Good in the second set.
UK also took win at Nos. 5 and 6 with Danielle Petrisko topping Schwartz, 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (1) in another tiebreaker and Maurer defeated Alizee Paradis (Quebec City, Canada) at No.6. Schwartz won the first set handily, but couldn't keep momentum going as the match wore on. Paradis battled Maurer back and forth in set one, but the Wildcat pulled out the victory.
The loss drops the Herd to 2-1 on the season and Kentucky is now 1-0.
"Kentucky is a great team and you're gauranteed one thing when you play them, they compete hard from beginning to end," Marshall head coach John Mercer said. "They're a very physical team and they play at a top-notch level and that's where we strive to be and we'll continue to work hard to get to that level because it's the best in the country."
The Herd is next in action, Feb. 4 against Louisville in Huntington. Kentucky downed Louisville 6-1 after it defeated the Herd.
RESULTS:
Doubles - KENTUCKY vs. MARSHALL
No. 1 - #11 Schwenk/Coventry def. #60 Good/Hock 8-2
No. 2 - # 6 Foster Kasarieva def. Kroh/Schwartz 8-1
No. 3 - Maurer/Simpson def. Nzudie/Brown 8-6
SINGLES - KENTUCKY vs. MARSHALL
No. 1 - #7 Kalsarieva def. Nzudie 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 - # 30 S. Foster def. Kroh 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 - Schwenk def. Good 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 - HOCK def. Simpson 7-6, 1-6, 1-0 (4)
No. 5 - Petrisko def. Schawrtz 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (1)
No. 6 - Maurer def. Paradis 6-4, 6-1
