UK Women’s Tennis Departs 2019 SEC Championship, Falls to Third-Seeded Vanderbilt
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 27 University of Kentucky women’s tennis team dropped its dual match against No. 8 Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Southeastern Conference Championship, 4-0, in College Station, Texas. The Commodores are the two-time defending champions in the conference tournament.
The Wildcats did not earn the doubles point, dropping straight matches on courts Nos. 2 & 3. Finishing first, Commodores’ Amanda Meyer and Christina Rosca defeated Tiphanie Fiquet and Alexis Merrill on a 6-2 mark. The Wildcats fought game-for-game on the first and second courts, but UK’s Lesedi Jacobs and Anastasia Tkachenko dropped on court No. 2 next, 6-4. Unlike the dual match in March, Vanderbilt clinched the doubles point to find an early lead.
The upperclassmen duo on court No. 1 in senior Justina Mikulskyte and Akvile Paražinskaite, ranked No. 13 in the ITA/Oracle National Doubles Team Rankings, retired their match at 5-6. The pair remain 8-0 against nationally-ranked foes.
The Kentucky program had a big task ahead of the singles division against a strong Vanderbilt singles lineup. The Wildcats won just two singles courts in the matchup in March, but by clinching the doubles point the team took the Commodores down to the wire in a 4-3 final mark that resulted in favor of the Dores. The SEC foe currently boasts five players in the ITA/Oracle National Singles Rankings, including two singles players in the top 20.
Redshirt sophomore Jacobs was the only Wildcat to claim the first set in the singles division, and in a big way. The Namibia native earned a 6-3 mark on the second court, edging the fifth-ranked player in the nation in Fernanda Contreras.
The momentum on court No. 2 didn’t stretch across the grandstand courts, as the UK women’s tennis team dropped three straight singles matches, allowing the Commodores to a 4-0 win in the quarterfinals. Foe Emily Smith defeated UK’s A. Tkachenko 6-3, 6-2 on the sixth court. Next, UK’s Paražinskaite dropped on the fourth court to Carolyn Campana, 6-3, 6-3. In the end, Commodore and 17th-ranked player in the nation in Christina Rosca defeated freshman Fiquet on court No. 3, 6-2, 6-4.
No. 21 Mikulskyte showed fight in the final stretch. She dropped the first set on the first court to No. 65 Georgia Drummy on a 6-2 mark, but rallied from behind in the second set with a shot at claiming it, carding a 6-5 mark in the second set before the match retired at 6-2, 5-6. Jacobs’ momentum on the second court didn’t hold up in the second set. Her match retired at 6-3, 2-5. Junior Diana Tkachenko’s match retired at 5-7, 3-2.
The UK women’s tennis team moved to 18-8 overall and 8-7 in the league. The NCAA Tournament selection show will stream online on April 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
For more on Kentucky women’s tennis, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, Kentucky Women’s Tennis on Facebook, or on the web at UKathletics.com.
