No. 14 Kentucky continued its solid early-season stretch of doubles play and turned in another impressive singles performance on its way to a 5-2 victory over No. 16 Texas A&M Friday evening at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.
As was the case in victories earlier this week over Marshall and Louisville, Kentucky (3-0) opened the match with wins in all three doubles matches. Sophomores Lara Maurer and Christine Simpson claimed an 8-5 win at the No. 3 position over A&M?s Anna Blagodarova and Seva Iwinski, and sophomores Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk enjoyed an easy 8-2 win at the No. 2 slot over Tiffany Clifford and Lauren Walker to clinch the doubles point. UK?s sixth-ranked tandem of senior Aibika Kalsarieva and sophomore Sarah Foster added an 8-6 win at the No. 1 position over Anna Lubinsky and Helga Vieira.
The Aggies responded early on in singles play, as A&M?s Clifford dealt UK?s Maurer a 6-2, 6-1 defeat at the fifth singles slot. UK?s Kalsarieva regained the lead for Kentucky with a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 1 over Vieira. Kentucky?s Foster added to the Wildcat cushion with a hard-fought 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over A&M?s Walker at the second singles spot for a 3-1 UK lead.
With three two-set matches in the books, the outcome of the match rested on the results of a trio of three-set matches. However, Kentucky?s Coventry sealed the outcome with a stellar comeback performance. After dropping the first set of her match at No. 3, Coventry bounced back with a 6-2 second set win before defeating A&M?s Lubinsky in the third set, 6-0, to clinch the Cats? third victory over the Aggies in as many seasons. The Aggies? Marisa Druss defeated UK?s Simpson at the No. 6 singles position, and UK?s Schwenk closed out the match with a victory over the Aggies? Blagodarova.
Kentucky improves to 9-1 against Texas A&M. The Cats wrap up their Lone Star stint Sunday when they take on No. 5 Northwestern at A&M?s Mitchell Tennis Center.
No. 14 Kentucky 5, No. 16 Texas A&M 2
Doubles
1. No. 6 S. Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) def. No. 28 Lubinsky/Vieira (TA&M) ? 8-6
2. No. 11 Coventry/Schwenk (UK) def. Clifford/Walker (TA&M) ? 8-2
3. Maurer/Simpson (UK) def. Blagodarova/Iwinski (TA&M) ? 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. No. 7 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. No. 47 Helga Vieira (TA&M) ? 6-4, 6-0
2. No. 30 Sarah Foster (UK) def. Lauren Walker (TA&M) ? 7-6 (4), 6-4
3. No. 58 Kim Coventry (UK) def. Anna Lubinsky (TA&M) ? 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
4. Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Anna Blagodarova (TA&M) ? 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
5. Tiffany Clifford (TA&M) def. Lara Maurer (UK) ? 6-2, 6-1
6. Marisa Druss (TA&M) def. Christine Simpson (UK) ? 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 2, 3, 6, 4
