College Tennis News - Aggies Defeat Kentucky, 5-2

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The fourth-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team defeated No. 44 Kentucky, 5-2, today at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex. It was the eighth consecutive win for the Aggies, who improve to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the SEC.

Doubles began with A&M twins Ines and Paula Deheza coasting to an 8-1 victory over Khristina Blajkevitch and Jessica Stiles at the No. 3 line. While that match would be quickly decided, the other two doubles contests would turn into back-and-forth affairs that would go down to the wire.

At the No. 1 court, A&M's 11th-ranked duo of Stefania Hristov and Cristina Stancu jumped out to a 5-2 lead against Caitlin McGraw and Nadia Ravita, but too many unforced errors by the Aggies allowed Kentucky to not only get back into the match but to take a 7-5 lead. With the Wildcats at match point, the Aggies fought back and managed to hold serve to tie the score at 7-7. The teams later remained tied at 8-8, forcing a seven-point tiebreaker.

Kentucky quickly jumped out to 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Stancu had several great saves as the Aggies rallied to win the next six points to win the match and clinch the doubles point for A&M. With the win, the pair improves to 16-5 overall, 7-2 in dual matches and 3-0 in league play.

Kentucky's Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff and CeCe Witten prevented the doubles sweep, overcoming a 7-5 deficit to defeat A&M's Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar and Wen Sun, 9-7 at No. 2.

The Aggies quickly took command in singles, winning the first set on five of six courts. Stancu, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday, gave A&M a 2-0 lead as she finished off Stiles, 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 court.

Ines Deheza put A&M ahead, 3-0, with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Morin-Kougoucheff at No. 4, and Nazari Urbina clinched the victory for the Aggies with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Blajkevitch at the No. 3 court. It marked Urbina's 91st career victory, moving her into a tie with former Aggie standout Morgan Frank for seventh place in the A&M career singles records.

Stephanie Fox put the Wildcats on the scoreboard with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over A&M's Anna Mamalat at No. 6.

Hristov and McGraw split sets at the No. 5 line, and with the overall match already determined, the two played a 10-point super tiebreaker to decide the winner. The score was knotted at 6-6 when Hristov began to pull away for the 10-7 win to give A&M a 6-1 lead.

The Wildcats (11-4, 2-2 SEC) closed out the match by posting their second and final point as 51st ranked Ravita upset Aggie All-American and sixth-ranked Sanchez-Quintanar at No. 1 singles. Sanchez-Quintanar jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 6-2 win in the first set, but the second set was tied at 4-4 when Ravita pulled away for a 6-4 win. The Wildcat would end up winning seven consecutive games over the final two sets to build a 5-0 third set lead. Sanchez-Quintanar won the next two games before Ravita closed out the 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win to make the final score, 5-2. It was only the fifth loss for Sanchez-Quintanar, who falls to 27-5 overall and 8-2 in dual matches.

A&M returns home Wednesday to play host to Virginia. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggies defeated the then-No. 12 Cavaliers, 4-1, earlier this season at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va.

Visit AggieAthletics.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Aggie-Womens-Tennis/143874782434654

No. 4 Texas A&M 5, No. 44 Kentucky 2
March 10, 2013
Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex
Lexington, Ky.

Singles
1.         #51 Nadia Ravita (UK) def. #6 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (TAMU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
2.         #83 Cristina Stancu (TAMU) def. Jessica Stiles (UK), 6-2, 6-3
3.         #67 Nazari Urbina (TAMU) def. Khristina Blajkevitch (UK) , 6-0, 6-2
4.         Ines Deheza (TAMU) def. Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff (UK), 6-2, 6-4
5.         Stefania Hristov (TAMU) def. Caitlin McGraw (UK), 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (7)
6.         Stephanie Fox (UK) def. Anna Mamalat (TAMU), 6-3, 6-1

Doubles (Texas A&M wins the point)
1.         #11 Hristov/Stancu (TAMU) def. McGraw/Ravita (UK), 9-8 (4)
2.         Morin-Kougoucheff/Cece Witten (UK) def. Sanchez-Quintanar/Wen Sun (TAMU), 9-7
3.         I. Deheza/Paula Deheza (TAMU) def. Blajkevitch/Stiles (UK), 8-1

Order of finish
Doubles: 3, 1, 2
Singles: 2, 4, 3*, 6, 5, 1

Team records
Texas A&M: 10-1, 4-0 SEC
Kentucky: 11-4, 2-2 SEC