Marshall University Athletics
Herd Draws Kentucky for NCAA First Round Match
5/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Herd Draws Kentucky for NCAA First Round Match
5/4/2005
Members of the Thundering Herd tennis team and fans gathered around the television in the Robert C. Hartley room to learn where the team would be headed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Photo by Matt Riley |
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University tennis team will travel to Lexington, Ky., to play the third-ranked University of Kentucky Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament next Friday, May 13.
"It's nice to be close to home and it's great to be playing at a place we're very familiar with," Marshall head coach John Mercer said. "We know it's a tough draw, but we always like the challenge of playing a team from the SEC and its another great opportunity to showcase our program."
The 69th-ranked Thundering Herd tennis team learned of its destination during the 2005 NCAA selection show Wednesday afternoon on ESPNNews as approximately 100 Herd supporters showed up to watch the pairings unveiled in the Robert C. Hartley Room.
Marshall (19-7) comes into the match on an 11-match winning streak and enters the tournament for the fourth straight year after earning the MAC's automatic berth for taking the tournament championship. Kentucky (23-5) earned its highest seed ever in the tournament at No. 3 and has been ranked in the top five of the ITA poll for most of the season. The Herd defeated No. 55 ranked Western Michigan to win the MAC title and the Wildcats lost to No. 2 seed Florida in the Southeastern Conference finals.
The Herd has been to UK twice in the last year, playing a tournament there in the fall and matching up against the 'Cats during MU's third match of the spring season. Kentucky downed Marshall 6-1 in the dual match, but Marshall stayed competitive up and down the lineup. The Herd's Danielle Hock (Wigan, England) picked up the only win of the day against the Wildcats with a 7-6, 1-6 10-4 win a tiebreaker for the third set.
Kentucky players maintained impressive rankings in the latest ITA singles and doubles polls this week. Senior Aibika Kalsarieva held on to her No. 3 singles ranking for a third-consecutive week, and sophomore Kim Coventry moved up two spots to No. 30. Sophomore Sarah Foster made the biggest Wildcat jump of the week, climbing from No. 70 to No. 64. Kalsarieva and Foster moved up two spots to No. 7 in the doubles rankings, though Coventry and sophomore Joelle Schwenk dropped from No. 18 to No. 22.
The Herd has no players currently ranked in the polls, but Hock and partner Joelle Good (Zurich, Switzerland) have been ranked between No. 56-60 for a better part of the year.
Other tournament notes, Senior All-American Ashley Kroh (Louisville, Ky.) has not lost a singles match since she played Kentucky's Foster and lost 6-3, 6-1. Good will also be looking to break the Marshall all-time singles wins record (93) when the Herd plays the Wildcats. She is currently tied with former player Alyssa Bengel for the record.
"It's a very tough draw," Kroh said. "We were hoping to get a three seed, but we know all of their players and they're strong up and down the lineup. We're going to have to perform very well, but we're looking forward to the challenge."
The time of Friday's match is yet to be determined. The winner of Marshall-UK will take on the winner of the Wake Forest-Indiana first-round match.