Doubles sweep leads to 6-1 win over 'Cats

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 17th-ranked Razorback women’s tennis team continued their winning ways on Friday afternoon with a solid 6-1 win over the Kentucky Wildcats at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville. This win is the second straight for the team and their fifth of the conference season.

The Razorbacks were able to get extremely strong doubles play from across the board and ended up sweeping all three doubles matches to take the early lead. From there, the Hogs clinched three quick matches in straight sets in singles to gain the easy victory. With the win, Arkansas moves to 15-7 on the year and 5-4 in conference play. With the loss, Kentucky falls to 4-17 overall and 2-7 in the SEC.

“It was a very solid day,” said Arkansas head coach Michael Hegarty. “All around we were strong from start to finish. We started great in doubles, which is really looking good right now. I was pleased with our overall toughness from top to bottom.”

Just like in the previous match with Auburn, the Hogs got out of the blocks quickly with a shutout win at the No. 1 doubles spot. The 24th-ranked team of senior Anouk Tigu and sophomore Claudine Paulson got an 8-0 win over Megan Broderick and Khristina Blajkevitch, their second straight win and 15th of the dual season.

With the ball now rolling in their favor, the Hogs finished off doubles at court three as freshman Jade Frampton and sophomore Valentina Starkova defeated CeCe Witten and Jessica Stiles, 8-3, to give Arkansas the doubles point and the 1-0 lead heading into singles. The sweep was completed at court two with an 8-6 win for juniors Kate Lukomskaya and Stephanie Roy as they earned their 11th win of the spring.

Going into singles, the Razorbacks continued to put their foot on the gas and never let up. Frampton continued the team scoring with a straight set, 6-0, 6-3 win over Misha Testerman and then junior Emily Carbone followed with her own 6-1, 6-0 victory over Witten. Those two wins gave Arkansas a huge 3-0 lead, leaving them only one match win away from the team victory.

Paulson got that clincher at court four after defeating Caitlin McGraw, 6-1, 6-3 for her 12th dual win and breaking a four match losing streak she had going into the weekend. The Hogs did get two more wins after the clincher by Roy and Tigu to give the score its final number of 6-1. Roy’s win keeps her at tops on the team in dual wins (16) and second in overall wins (22). Tigu is now right behind Roy with 21 wins this season and 11 in dual play.

The Razorbacks will be back on the home courts on Sunday as they will face Vanderbilt at noon at the Billingsley Tennis Center. Live stats and the live blog will be available as well as a full match recap as soon as everything is final. For all information regarding the women’s tennis team, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Kentucky 1No. 17 Arkansas 6Complete Doubles ResultsOrder of Finish: 1, 3*, 2No. 1 #24 Anouk Tigu/Claudine Paulson (ARK) def. Megan Broderick/Khristina Blajkevitch (UK) 8-0No. 2 Kate Lukomskaya/Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. Marni Venter/Caitlin McGraw (UK) 8-6No. 3 Jade Frampton/Valentina Starkova (ARK) def. CeCe Witten/Jessica Stiles (UK) 8-3Complete Singles ResultsOrder of Finish: 6, 5, 4*, 1, 2, 3No. 1 #27 Anouk Tigu (ARK) def. Megan Broderick (UK) 6-3, 6-1No. 2 Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. Jessica Stiles (UK) 6-1, 2-6, 1-0(7)No. 3 Khristina Blajkevitch (UK) def. Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) 6-3, 6-7(4), 1-0 (8)No. 4 Claudine Paulson (ARK) def. Caitlin McGraw (UK) 6-1, 6-3No. 5 Emily Carbone (ARK) def. CeCe Witten (UK) 6-1, 6-0No. 6 Jade Frampton (ARK) def. Misha Testerman (UK) 6-0, 6-3