Kentucky Drops Heartbreaker to Kansas State in NCAA First Round
EVANSTON, Ill. – The No. 26 Kentucky women’s tennis team came out fighting, building up an early 3-1 lead over Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon. However, the early surge wasn’t quite enough as the Big 12 Wildcats rallied to take a 4-3 victory and advance to tomorrow’s second round match.
Kentucky got off to a quick start, taking the first point in the match with breezy victories at the top two doubles courts. Mami Adachi and Justina Mikulsykte handled their business on court two, earning a 6-1 win over K-State’s Rosanna Maffei/Ines Mesquite. UK’s top tandem of No. 65 Emily Fanning and Lesedi Jacobs clinched the lead with a 6-3 triumph.
Early through singles, Jacobs was forced to medically retire her match on court five, helping K-State even the score, but Kentucky would quickly counter with a pair of straight-set victories to build back up its lead.
On court three, Adachi improved to an impressive 16-3 mark in singles play with her 6-3, 6-3 win over Carolina Costamagna. At No. 4 singles, Diana Tkachenko gave Kentucky a 3-1 edge as she downed Maffei, 6-4, 6-2.
After flying through an easy first set, Fanning dropped a tough three-set loss to Margot Decker at No. 1 singles to help K-State pull back within one.
The remaining two matches were extremely close all the way through, coming down to the final points. Kansas State evened the match at 3-3 as Brianna Tulloch fell 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5, just before Mikulskyte dropped an incredibly tough third-set tiebreak, 8-6, to give K-State the win.
With the conclusion of today’s match, Kentucky’s season comes to a close. UK ended the 2018 campaign with a 14-11 overall record, while Kansas State improves to 15-10. K-State will advance to face the winner of No. 14 seed Northwestern and Mid-American Conference champion Buffalo tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET.
Agate
#26 Kentucky 3, #42 Kansas State 4
NCAA Tournament First Round
Combe Tennis Center – Evanston, Ill.
May 11, 2018
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2-1)
1 – #65 Emily Fanning/Lesedi Jacobs (UK) def. Margot Decker/Carolina Costamagna (KSU) 6-3
2 – Mami Adachi/Justina Mikulskyte (UK) def. Rosanna Maffei/Ines Mesquita (KSU) 6-1
3 – Diana Tkachenko/Brianna Tulloch (UK) vs. Maria Linares/Anna Turco (KSU) 4-3, unf.
Singles (Order of Finish: 5-3-4-1-6-2)
1 – Margot Decker (KSU) def. Emily Fanning (UK) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
2 – Maria Linares (KSU) def. Justina Mikulskyte (UK) 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 7-6 (8-6)
3 – Mami Adachi (UK) def. Carolina Costamagna (KSU) 6-3, 6-3
4 – Diana Tkachenko (UK) def. Rosanna Maffei (KSU) 6-4, 6-2
5 – Anna Turco (KSU) def. Lesedi Jacobs (UK) 5-4, retired
6 – Ines Mesquita (KSU) def. Brianna Tulloch (UK) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-5
Match Notes:
Kansas State 15-10; National ranking #42
Kentucky 14-11; National ranking #26
Match played indoors
Official: Joy Duerr T-3:35
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKWomensTennis and on the web at UKathletics.com.
