Lady'Backs fall to surging Wildcats

The University of Arkansas women’s tennis team was led on Easter Sunday with a singles win by junior transfer Karina Ledaja, but the win was not enough to bring the Lady Razorbacks to victory in a 6-1 loss to the University of Kentucky Wildcats. "We showed a great amount of fight in all aspects of play this entire weekend." said head coach Michael Hegarty. "After competing against many quality Eastern Division teams, the upcoming Western Division matches are something we are looking forward to." Ledaja was the first Lady’Back off the court in a 6-3, 6-1 effort on court four against UK’s Joelle Schwenk. The win marks Ledaja’s eighth Southeastern Conference victory in 2004-05 and improves her team-leading 3-2 singles record against conference opponents in dual matches. Overall, the Liepaja, Latvia native improves to a team-leading 23-7 this season.Ledaja’s winevened the score at one-match apiece after a Wildcat sweep of doubles. In the three doubles matches, the Lady’Backs saw action from two new doubles combinations. Freshmen Maryori Franco and Allison Linden were paired together on court two in an 8-2 loss, while senior Iliana Pacheco and freshman Audrey Bordeleau lost a closer match, 8-4. In other singles action, junior Vlatka Jovanovic played at line one for Arkansas after coming off the biggest win of her Arkansas career against #8 Audra Faulk of Vanderbilt just two days prior. Jovanovic faced off against UK’s Aibika Kalsarieva, ranked sixth in the country, but could not defeat her second consecutive ranked player in a 6-3, 6-0 loss. "The Kentucky and Vanderbilt matches are a step in the right direction." Hegarty said. "Kentucky is a legitimate shot to win the national title and we were toe-to-toe with them on numerous courts." With the loss, Arkansas falls to 10-6 overall this season and 0-6 in SEC play. Kentucky improves to 17-3 overall and extends its mid-season winning streak to 11 matches. In those 11 matches, the Wildcats have surged to a No. 3 national ranking while picking off a higher ranked Florida and attaining an unblemished 6-0 SEC record. The Lady’Backs enter Western Division play next Friday in Starkville, Mississippi for a 5:00 p.m. match against Mississippi State. Last year, the Bulldogs escaped with a 4-3 win in Fayetteville. For more information, please visit www.ladybacks.com.Tennis Match ResultsSunday, March 27, 2005University of Arkansas 1, University of Kentucky 6Singles Competition: 1. #6 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. Vlatka Jovanovic (UA) 6-3, 6-02. #31 Kim Coventry (UK) def. Iliana Pacheco (UA) 6-2, 6-43. #46 Sarah Foster (UK) def. #80 Maryori Franco (UA) 6-3, 6-44. Karina Ledaja (UA) def. Joelle Schwenk (UK) 6-3, 6-15. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Melissa Cornett (UA) 6-2, 6-16. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Audrey Bordeleau (UA) 6-1, 6-0Doubles Competition: 1. #6 Sarah Foster/ Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. Melissa Cornett/ Vlatka Jovanovic (UA) 8-32. #17 Kim Coventry/ Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Maryori Franco/ Allison Linden (UA) 8-23. Emily Foster/ Lara Maurer (UK) def. Audrey Bordeleau/ Iliana Pacheco (UA) 8-4