LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Vanderbilt?s Taka Bertrand outlasted UK?s Sarah Foster in a lengthy three-set match to provide the clinching point, as Kentucky suffered its first defeat in over two months, falling to the fifth-ranked Commodores by a 4-3 count Saturday at UK?s Boone Tennis Center. The loss ends UK?s 15-match win streak, though the Cats will retain their No. 1 seed in next week?s SEC Tournament at Alabama.

The Cats (21-4, 10-1) opened the match by dropping a closely-contested doubles point. Kentucky?s Emily Foster and Lara Maurer defeated Vandy?s Caroline Ferrell and Annie Menees by an 8-4 count at third doubles, but the Commodores responded at the remaining two positions. With the score knotted at five at the second slot, Vanderbilt?s Amanda Fish and Taka Bertrand produced a service break after a nearly 15-minute game on their way to an 8-5 win over sophomores Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk. UK?s Sarah Foster and Aibika Kalsarieva held a 5-3 lead in a first-doubles tiebreak against Audra Falk and Amanda Taylor, but Vanderbilt took the remaining four points to clinch the match and the doubles point.

The Commodores (19-4, 9-2) extended their lead to 2-0 when Fish ran her SEC record to 11-0 at second singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win over UK?s Coventry. The Cats responded at the sixth slot, as UK?s Danielle Petrisko made short work of Caroline Ferrell, winning by a 6-1, 6-2 margin. The fifth-ranked Kalsarieva completed a flawless conference season by defeating the 11th-ranked Falk in straight sets at No. 1 singles to tie the tally at two. Kalsarieva now is unbeaten in her last 18 singles matches and hasn?t suffered a loss since Feb. 3.

Kentucky?s Maurer improved to 8-3 in conference play with a 6-4, 7-5 win over VU?s Menees to give the Cats a short-lived 3-2 lead. UK?s Schwenk took a 6-5 second-set lead after dropping her first set, but Vanderbilt?s Amanda Taylor forced and ultimately won the ensuing tiebreaker to knot the score at three.

UK?s Sarah Foster dropped her first set against Vandy?s Bertrand but captured the ensuing set to force a third set. Foster and Bertrand each held serve and exchanged service breaks before Bertrand registered the final service break in the set?s 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. Bertrand served out the final game to end the match in favor of the Commodores.

Kentucky returns to action on Friday, Apr. 22 at the SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The top-seeded Cats will enjoy a first-round bye and will meet the winner of next Thursday?s first-round match between the eighth and ninth seeds. Regardless of the tournament?s outcome, the Cats will collect their share of hardware at next week?s SEC postseason awards banquet. Kentucky will receive its first Southeastern Conference and SEC Eastern division trophies, and Coach Mark Guilbeau and Aibika Kalsarieva are frontrunners for SEC Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, respectively.

No. 5 Vanderbilt 4, No. 2 Kentucky 3

Singles

1. No. 5 Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. No. 11 Audra Falk (VU) ? 6-3, 6-4
2. No. 39 Amanda Fish (VU) def. No. 33 Kim Coventry (UK) ? 6-2, 6-0
3. No. 60 Taka Bertrand (VU) def. No. 50 Sarah Foster (UK) ? 7-5, 2-6, 7-5
4. Amanda Taylor (VU) def. Joelle Schwenk (UK) ? 6-4, 7-6
5. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Annie Menees (VU) ? 6-4, 7-5
6. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Caroline Ferrell (VU) ? 6-1, 6-2
Doubles

1. Falk/Taylor (VU) def. No. 7 S. Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) ? 9-8 (5)
2. No. 55 Fish/Bertrand (VU) def. No. 14 Coventry/Schwenk (UK) ? 8-5
3. E. Foster/Maurer (UK) def. Ferrell/Menees (VU) ? 8-4