Kentucky Women’s Tennis Loses Four-Hour Rift with Auburn, 4-3
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team dropped its first match at home this season, falling to Auburn in a 4-3 decision at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center. The Wildcats own a 9-6 record, including a 2-2 mark in the Southeastern Conference and a 6-1 mark at home.
Kentucky lost the doubles point for the second time this weekend, losing it on the first and third courts. Before that though, one of UK’s twosomes rolled past their opponents for the eighth time this season, defeating Madeline Meredith and Georgie Axon on the second court.
Lesedi Jacobs and Anastasia Tkachenko, who have had success all season when paired together, forced a 6-2 triumph on the second doubles court to finish first. The UK duo boasts an impressive record together, owning an 8-1 mark in dual matches and a 4-0 mark in the conference. The tandem is 1-0 on the first court, 2-0 on the second court and 5-1 on the third court.
Still, their doubles force wouldn’t benefit the team score on Sunday afternoon, as UK’s Carlota Molina and Maialen Morante got taken down on the third court to Yu Chen and Carolyn Ansari, 6-3. Then, Carla Girbau and Akvile Paražinskaite lost on the first court to 14th-ranked Taylor Russo and Selin Ovunc, 7-5.
Auburn owned a 1-0 advantage ahead of the singles competition, and that momentum appeared to give the Tigers the upper hand from the beginning. Taking the first match of the singles competition, AU’s Ansari ousted A. Tkachenko on the fifth court in a swift 6-1, 6-2 decision. It was an unusual performance for A. Tkachenko, who has been a consistent player in the back half of UK’s singles lineup all season. She moved to an 11-3 singles record in dual matches with her loss.
The singles win then gave Auburn a 2-0 advantage in the dual match, however UK’s Jacobs fired back, feeding off her earlier momentum from the doubles competition. The redshirt junior put together a 6-4, 6-2 pair of sets on the first court, upsetting the 83rd-best singles player in the nation in Russo. It was the first ranked player Jacobs has competed against all year, as the Namibia native improves to an 8-3 singles record, including a perfect 3-0 singles mark in conference action.
Jacobs crafted a perfect weekend in league action, winning both of her doubles matches (court two) and both of her singles matches (court one), including her first ranked win of the season.
Diana Tkachenko then helped Kentucky tie the dual match at 2-2, as she took her opponent down in a quick three sets on the sixth court. D. Tkachenko defeated UA’s Meredith in comeback fashion, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The team score was tied at 2-2, before the Tigers rallied their second singles match of the competition. Ranked 64th in the nation, AU’s Selin Ovunc ousted Paražinskaite, 6-3, 7-5, on the second court.
While the team score stood at 3-2, the remaining two singles matches took to the third set as both Molina and Girbau lost the first set but rallied comebacks in the second set.
Looking for two straight singles wins to earn the victory over Auburn, Girbau took care of business on the third singles court. The sophomore transfer from Miami (Fla.) defeated Yu Chen, also in comeback fashion, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, to tie the dual match once again, this time at 3-3.
All the pressure came down to the fourth court and freshman Molina. After rallying back in the second set, the rookie fought hard in the third set, too. She came back from a three-point deficit (0-3) to earn a 4-3 advantage over UA’s Georgia Axon in the third set but couldn’t hold on to her momentum. Molina ended up losing, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
Next on the Schedule
The Kentucky women’s tennis team will compete at Missouri on Friday, March 13 at 6 p.m. ET in Columbia, Missouri.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and on Instagram, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.
