University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Kentucky
LADY VOL TENNIS DEFEATS NO. 23 KENTUCKY 6-1
April 01, 2007 | Women's Tennis
April 1, 2007
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee women's tennis team (9-8, 4-4 SEC) defeated No. 23 Kentucky, 6-1. The win marks the first time since the 2004 season that the Lady Vols have been victorious over the Wildcats, improving its all-time record to 18-14.
The Orange and White came out with a mission in doubles competition, earning wins in all three matches. First to finish was court two where senior Blakeley Griffith (Middleburg, Va.) and sophomore Samantha Orlin (Miami, Fla.) teamed up to beat Kentucky's Carolina Escamilla and Sarah Woestmann, 8-4.
On Center Court, the freshmen pair of Caitlin Whoriskey (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Zsofia Zubor (Nyiregyhaza, Hungary) upset the nation's fifth-ranked doubles team in Joelle Schwenk and Kim Coventry of Kentucky, 9-7. Neither pair was able to gain more than a one-set lead throughout the match as it went back and forth the whole time. The victory marked the first win for the UT tandem over a ranked doubles team this season, and was only the third time the pair of Wildcats came up short in dual matches this year when playing together.
Finally on court three, senior Vicky Jones (Tyne & Wear, U.K.) and freshman Connor Vogel (Germantown, Tenn.) earned a come-from-behind win, 8-7, over Kentucky's Whitney Spencer and Christine Johnston. Jones and Vogel were down 7-2, before rallying back, winning five straight sets to tie it at 7-7. With the wins, the Lady Vols clinched the doubles point, carrying the momentum into singles.
Approximately thirty minutes into singles play, the rain started coming down, forcing the match to be moved indoors to the Goodfriend Tennis Center for the remainder of play.
With momentum on the side of the Big Orange, Tennessee came out strong in singles competition, earning victories in the first four matches to finish. On court four, Orlin defeated Escamilla, 7-6, 6-1, and in the second spot of the lineup, Vogel was victorious against Coventry, 7-5, 7-6, bringing the UT lead to 3-0.
On Center Court, Griffith clinched the Tennessee win with a victory of her own over Schwenk, 6-4, 7-5. This was a `battle of the ranked' as Griffith is 31st in the country and Schwenk is No. 122 coming in to today's match, according to the latest Fila Collegiate Tennis poll.
Whoriskey took part in the only match to go three-sets of the day on court three, defeating Woestmann, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6. In the sixth spot of the lineup, Zubor fell to Spencer, 6-1, 6-0, giving Kentucky its only point for the day. On court five, Jones' match came down to tiebreakers, after splitting the first two sets with Giuggioli. The senior earned the win, 3-6, 6-2 (12-10), bringing the final score to 6-1 over the Wildcats.
The Lady Vols make its final road trip of the regular season, traveling to Ole Miss on Friday at 4 p.m., before taking on Mississippi State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
| SINGLES RESULTS | |
| 1. No. 31 Blakeley Griffith (UT) def. No. 122 Joelle Schwenk (UK) | 6-4, 7-5 |
| 2. Connor Vogel (UT) def. Kim Coventry (UK) | 7-5, 7-6 |
| 3. Caitlin Whoriskey (UT) def. Sarah Woestmann (UK) | 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 |
| 4. Samantha Orlin (UT) def. Carolina Escamilla (UK) | 7-6, 6-1 |
| 5. Vicky Jones (UT) def. Jessica Giuggioli (UK) | 3-6, 6-2 (12-10) |
| 6. Whitney Spencer (UK) def. Zsofia Zubor (UT) | 6-1, 6-0 |
| DOUBLES RESULTS | |
| 1. Whoriskey/Zubor (UT) def. No. 5 Coventry/Schwenk (UK) | 9-7 |
| 2. Griffith/Orlin (UT) def. Escamilla/Woestmann (UK) | 8-4 |
| 3. Jones/Vogel (UT) def. Spencer/Johnston (UK) | 8-7 |
