Kentucky Advances in Clemson Regional with 4-0 Win over Furman

May 12, 2006

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The Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Furman Paladins, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA regionals on Saturday at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center on the campus of Clemson University. Kentucky advances to face host Clemson in the regional final on Saturday at 11:00 AM. The second-round appearance will be the sixth straight for the Wildcats and eighth in the last nine years. With the win, Kentucky improved to 18-9, while the Paladins’ 2006 season ends with a 19-7 record.

“We played tough competition today, but we played well,” said Wildcat Head Coach Carlos Drada. “We are just hoping for a good match tomorrow and want to continue on today’s performance.”

Kentucky captured a hard-fought doubles point by winning matches at the flights one and two positions. The Wildcat team of Kim Coventry and Carolina Escamilla quickly defeated Laura Gioia and Marti Morris in the top match-up, 8-2. The second and third flights remained tight before Kentucky’s Lara Maurer and Joelle Schwenk clinched the point with a victory over Jacqueline Eckert and Lauren Osborne at number two. The Wildcat team trailed, 5-3, in the match before fighting for a 6-5 advantage. Maurer and Schwenk then led 7-5 and won the match by a final score of 8-6.

The flight three contest, played between Danielle Petrisko and Caroline Winebrenner of Kentucky and Shannon Moore and Lisa Bornt-Davis of Furman, was knotted a 7-7 when play was called.

In singles competition, the Wildcats picked up their second point of the match as Carolina Escamilla defeated Bonnie Baird at the flight five position, 6-0, 6-2. Danielle Petrisko then put Kentucky ahead, 3-0, with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Shannon Moore in the number four contest. Joelle Schwenk clinched the match for the Wildcats, winning a 6-1, 6-0 decision against Lauren Osborne at flight three.

Kentucky 4, Furman 0Doubles 1. #27 Kim Coventry/Carolina Escamilla (UK) def. Laura Gioia/Marti Morris (FU), 8-2 2. Lara Maurer/Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Jacqueline Eckert/Lauren Osborne (FU), 8-6 3. Danielle Petrisko/Caroline Winebrenner (UK) vs. Shannon Moore/Lisa Bornt-Davis (FU), dnf Order of Finish – 1, 2Singles 1. #49 Kim Coventry (UK) vs. Laura Gioia (FU), dnf 2. Lara Maurer (UK) vs. Marti Morris (FU), dnf 3. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Lauren Osborne (FU), 6-1, 6-0* 4. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Shannon Moore (FU), 6-0, 6-2 5. Carolina Escamilla (UK) def. Bonnie Baird (FU), 6-0, 6-2 6. Jessica Guiggioli (UK) vs. Lauren Tomory (FU), dnf Order of Finish – 5, 4, 3 * – clinched match Records: Kentucky – 18-9, Furman – 19-7

NCAA Women’s Tennis Regional QuotesClemson, SC • Hoke Sloan Tennis CenterMay 12, 2006

Kentucky Head Coach Carlos Drada“We played tough competition today, but we played well. We are just hoping for a good match tomorrow and want to continue on today’s performance.”

Furman Head Coach Debbie Southern“I thought we played well in the doubles, but Kentucky is an aggressive team and we came up a little short. In the singles, we didn’t keep enough balls in play. My hat goes off to Kentucky, they played a great match. I thought we had a great season, though. We played a very tough schedule. To be able to go undefeated in our conference is getting harder and harder to do, yet we still accomplished that this season, which was amazing.”