No. 20 Kentucky scored the doubles point and claimed four of six singles matches to capture a 5-2 victory over No. 46 South Carolina Friday evening at UK?s Boone Tennis Center. The Cats improve to 11-5 and 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while Carolina falls to 6-3 and 2-1 in the conference.

Kentucky?s solid overall play was evident early on, as the Cats scored wins at the one and two doubles positions to take a 1-0 lead. Junior Aibika Kalsarieva and freshman Lara Maurer wasted little time dispatching Carolina?s Laura Ganzer and Christyn Lucas, yielding nothing in an 8-0 victory. Freshmen Sarah Foster and Joelle Schwenk clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 win at No. 2 over the Gamecocks? Magda Wojdylo and Fallon Koon.

Kalsarieva and Maurer carried their superior doubles play over to singles play, registering decisive straight-set victories. Kalsarieva claimed a 6-1, 6-1 win over Ganzer at No. 1, while Maurer earned a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lucas. Foster?s three-set victory at No. 4 cemented the Kentucky win, and freshman Christine Simpson scored the final UK victory at No. 6 in a third-set super-tiebreaker.

The Cats head to Gainesville, Fla. for their weekend finale against third-ranked Florida. The match is set for a 1 p.m. EST start Sunday at Florida?s Ring Tennis Complex.

AGATE:

No. 20 Kentucky 5, No. 46 South Carolina 2

 Doubles 1. Kalsarieva/Maurer (UK) def. Ganzer/Lucas (USC) - 8-2 2. Foster/Schwenk (UK) def. Wojdylo/Koon (USC) ? 8-6 3. Gutierrez/Suzuki (USC) def. Simpson/Sober (UK) ? 8-3 

Singles 1. No. 19 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. Laura Ganzer (USC) ? 6-1, 6-1 2. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Christyn Lucas (USC) ? 6-3, 6-1 3. Miranda Gutierrez (USC) def. Joelle Schwenk (UK) ? 6-1, 6-2 4. Sarah Foster (UK) def. Magda Wojdylo (USC) ? 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 5. Fallon Koon (USC) def. Liis Sober (UK) ? 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5) 6. Christine Simpson (UK) def. Justine Walsh (USC) ? 2-6, 6-0, 1-0 (14-12)