LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 18th-ranked Kentucky women cruised to a 5-2 victory over Auburn Friday at UK?s Boone Tennis Complex on the strength of solid all-around play. The Cats improve to 14-7 and 5-2 in the SEC, while Auburn drops to 6-9 and 1-6 in the conference.

Freshmen Lara Maurer and Joelle Schwenk started the Cats off on the right foot with an 8-3 victory at No. 2 doubles over Liz Sauerborn and Sarah Suitor, a Paducah, Ky., native. The 15th-ranked tandem of freshman Sarah Foster and junior Aibika Kalsarieva scored an 8-3 win of their own at the No 1 position over Petra Bercik and Carolina Ramirez to clinch the doubles point.

Kentucky sustained its momentum throughout singles play. Freshman Kim Coventry scored an easy 6-3, 6-1 victory over Suitor at No. 5 for a 2-0 Wildcat lead. Foster, who entered this week?s ITA singles rankings at No. 96, made short work of Isabel Rosenbrock with a 6-1, 6-3 win. Kalsarieva clinched the match for Kentucky at No. 1 with a straight-set victory over Bercik. Freshman Christine Simpson added a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 6 over Nancy Peaden for the Cats? fourth singles win of the evening.

The Cats return to the Boone Tennis Complex Sunday for a 12 p.m. match against No. 22 Alabama.

No. 18 Kentucky 5, Auburn 2

Doubles

 1. Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) def. Bercik/Ramirez (AU) ? 8-3 2. Maurer/Schwenk (UK) def. Sauerborn/Suitor (AU) ? 8-3 3. Cowart/Rosenbrock (AU) def. Coventry/Simpson (UK) ? 8-4 

Singles 1. No. 23 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. Petra Bercik (AU) ? 6-1, 7-5 2. Carolina Ramirez (AU) def. Lara Maurer (UK) ? 6-7, 6-3, 1-0 (8) 3. No. 96 Sarah Foster (UK) def. Isabel Rosenbrock (AU) ? 6-1, 6-3 4. Liz Sauerborn (AU) def. Joelle Schwenk (UK) ? 6-4, 7-6 5. Kim Coventry (UK) def. Sarah Suitor (AU) ? 6-3, 6-1 6. Christine Simpson (UK) def. Nancy Peaden (AU) ? 6-3, 6-1