No. 16 Kentucky chalked up three quick singles victories Sunday, but they were not enough, as No. 28 Tennessee dealt the Cats a 4-3 defeat at UK?s Boone Indoor Tennis Center.

Freshman Sarah Foster and junior Aibika Kalsarieva regained their winning touch at No. 1 doubles with an easy 8-2 win over UT?s Tammy Encina and Majen Immink. However, the Lady Vols claimed the remaining two doubles match to earn the doubles point.

The Cats quickly erased their deficit with three singles victories. A battle of former two-time Kentucky girls? singles champions commenced at No. 3 singles, as UK?s Foster, a Lexington Christian Academy alum, met UT junior Ashley Robards, a Henderson County H.S. graduate. The newly-ranked Foster handled Robards with little difficulty, scoring a 6-2, 6-2 victory. UK freshman Joelle Schwenk made quick work of Tennessee?s Blakeley Griffith, tallying a 6-3, 6-4 win. Kalsarieva fought back from a 4-0 first-set deficit to Tennessee?s Tammy Encina to capture the set by a 7-5 count before dispatching Encina in the second set, 6-4. The Cats failed to protect the lead, however, as the Lady Vols captured the final three singles matches to clinch the victory.

Kentucky falls to 15-9 and 6-4 in the SEC, while Tennessee moves to 13-11 and 7-3. The Cats play their final regular-season match this Saturday when Kentucky travels to Nashville to meet fifth-ranked Vanderbilt.

No. 28 Tennessee 4, No. 16 Kentucky 3

 Doubles 1. Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) def. Encina/Immink (UT) ? 8-2 2. Maharaj/Schaub (UT) def. Maurer/Schwenk (UK) ? 8-5 3. Griffith/Jones (UT) def. Coventry/Simpson (UK) ? 8-4 

Singles 1. No. 23 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. Tammy Encina (UT) ? 7-5, 6-4 2. Sabita Maharaj (UT) def. Lara Maurer (UK) ? 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 3. Sarah Foster (UK) def. Ashley Robards (UT) ? 6-2, 6-2 4. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Blakeley Griffith (UT) ? 6-3, 6-4 5. Majen Immink (UT) def. Kim Coventry (UK) ? 6-0, 1-6, 6-1 6. Vicky Jones (UT) def. Liis Sober (UK) ? 6-0, 6-1