LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s tennis fell short of Tennessee 4-2 in the team’s SEC home opener on Saturday. The singles matches were highlighted by the strong play of junior Zoe Hammond, who defeated No. 5 Elza Tomase. Following today’s match, the Wildcats are 6-3 on the season.
To start the match doubles put up a hard fight but fell just short of the point. Tennessee claimed victories over Hammond and freshman Tess Bucher 6-1, and duo Julia Zhu and Asuncion Jadue 6-2. Senior Ellie Eades and fifth-year Lizzy Stevens were fighting in a close match when Tennessee clinched the doubles point, leaving the pair’s match abandoned.
Moving onto singles, No. 59 Zhu dominated Tennessee’s Maeve Thornton 6-1 in the first set and finished strong with 6-2 in the second set, gaining UK a point against the Vols. The Wildcats continued to thrive as Zoe Hammond secured a second point for the Wildcats over No. 5 Tomase 6-4 in a thrilling first set. The Boone got loud for the second set, when Hammond secured the point 6-2. Unfortunately, the Volunteers fought back, beating Eades, Stevens, and Bucher to win the match 4-2 and abandoning Jadue’s match before completion.
This loss puts the Wildcats at 6-3 on the year and 0-1 in the SEC. In their next match Kentucky will travel to Baton Rouge to meet LSU on Friday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. ET. The Wildcats will return to the Boone Tennis Center on Friday, Mar. 7 for a matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs.
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