TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ? Kentucky will make its first appearance in the finals of the Southeastern Conference Women?s Tennis Tournament after handing fifth-seeded Georgia a 4-2 defeat in the semifinals Saturday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The win marks the Cats? third-consecutive win over the Dogs and propels Kentucky into the final, where UK will take on third-seeded Florida, who scored a 4-1 win over second-seeded Vanderbilt in the other semifinal.

Kentucky?s Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk opened doubles play with an 8-3 win over Kelley Hyndman and Evgenia Subbotina. UGA?s Shadisha Robinson and Caroline Basu rebounded with an 8-5 win over UK?s Sarah Foster and Aibika Kalsarieva at first doubles. At the third position, UK?s Emily Foster and Lara Maurer trailed 4-1 but rebounded to even the tally at four. Each side exchanged game victories until Kentucky broke UGA?s service at seven games apiece to take an 8-7 lead. Georgia produced a crucial service break in the 16th game to force the deciding tiebreaker. UK took a 2-0 lead to open the tiebreak, but Georgia captured the next five points for a 5-2 lead. Kentucky broke within 5-4 but the Dogs took the remaining two points to capture the tiebreaker.

UK?s Coventry evened the score at one with a straight-set win over UGA?s eighth-ranked Robinson at the No. 2 slot. Georgia regained the lead for a brief period after the Dogs? Caroline Basu knocked off UK?s Sarah Foster, 6-2, 6-3. Kentucky evened the score and put the Dogs away by scoring three victories in a 20-minute span.

Kentucky?s Maurer knotted the tally at two apiece with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Georgia?s Evgenia Subbotina at No. 5 singles. At the sixth position, UK?s Danielle Petrisko and UGA?s Jitka Schonfeldova each held serve through the first eight games until Petrisko produced a timely service break in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead. Petrisko held serve again in the final game to win the first set, 6-4. After surrendering the first game of the following set, Petrisko claimed the next four games to take a 4-1 lead. Schonfeldova closed within 5-3 and saved a pair of match points, but Petrisko managed to take the final game to win the match and give Kentucky the lead.

UK?s Kalsarieva took the first nine games of her match against UGA?s Frazier before the Georgia sophomore commenced a rally. Frazier managed to pull within 5-3, but Kalsarieva pulled away in the final game to extend her unbeaten streak to 20 matches and give the Cats their second SEC tournament win over the Dogs in as many seasons.

?The staff is so impressed with the level of play from this team today,? UK Coach Mark Guilbeau said. ?Even in doubles, but most certainly in singles, we played some of the best tennis we?ve played all year. Clearly, our team believed and expected to win the match, but the relentless, high-percentage approach in singles surpassed the expectations we had as a coaching staff. Georgia is a very, very talented team, and it took knowing that, respecting their potential and most importantly, gaining a mindset and spirit that would allow us to manage that and even go beyond their potential. To once again see these UK players compose and re-dedicate themselves after dropping a solid doubles point says so much about their toughness, focus and desire. I am so proud and pleased with their efforts to make all things positive?on and off the court. They deserve to be in this final and they deserve to play a great match tomorrow.

?It will be a great day Sunday and we are excited to be in this final and share this experience with a great group of fans and friends who are supporting us.?

The Cats will take on defending SEC Tournament Champion Florida in Sunday?s final at 1 p.m. EDT. Live scoring will be available at ukathletics.com, via rolltide.com. Kentucky scored its first victory over the Gators in March, defeating Florida by a 5-2 margin at UK?s Boone Indoor Tennis Center.

No. 3 Kentucky 4, No. 7 Georgia 2

Doubles
1. Basu/Robinson (UGA) def. S. Foster/Kalsarieva (UK) ? 8-5
2. Coventry/Schwenk (UK) def. Hyndman/Subbotina (UGA) ? 8-3
3. Frazier/Schonfeldova (UGA) def. E. Foster/Maurer (UK) ? 9-8 (4)
Singles
1. Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. Natalie Frazier (UGA) ? 6-0, 6-3
2. Kim Coventry (UK) def. Shadisha Robinson (UGA) ? 6-2, 6-3
3. Caroline Basu (UGA) def. Sarah Foster (UK) ? 6-2, 6-3
4. Joelle Schwenk (UK) vs. Kelley Hyndman (UGA) ? 6-3, 1-3, susp.
5. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Evgenia Subbotina (UGA) ? 6-1, 6-3
6. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Jitka Schonfeldova (UGA) ? 6-4, 6-3