Kentucky Falls to Host LSU in SEC Tournament Second Round
BATON ROUGE, La. – Kentucky women’s tennis fell just shy in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon, edged out by No. 8 seed and host seed LSU in a 4-3 decision. With the loss, Kentucky falls to 17-9 on the season, while LSU advances to play No. 1 seed Florida while sporting an 18-10 mark.
The Wildcats got out to a quick start with a dominant showing in doubles by the No. 2 and 3 pairings. On Court 2, Nadia Ravita and Justina Mikulskyte easily downed Joana Vale Costa and Ella Taylor in a 6-2 set, while the duo of Akvile Paražinskaite and Kirsten Lewis took a 6-3 win over Skylar Holloway and Skylar Kuykendall in No. 3 doubles.
UK kept the lead through the first two completed singles matches, splitting with the Tigers to hold a 2-1 advantage. Kate Lanier fell to Taylor in No. 6 singles, 6-0, 6-2 before Mami Adachi secured a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ryann Foster after moving up to the No. 3 spot for the tournament.
Kentucky took its largest lead of the match courtesy of No. 35 Aldila Sutjiadi, who had her largest upset of the season over No. 22 Vale Costa. Sutjiadi moved into the No. 1 singles spot after her stellar play in No. 2 singles during the SEC regular season, and downed Vale Costa in matching 6-4 sets.
LSU knotted the score with wins in No. 4 and 5 singles, first with a Kuykendall win over Paražinskaite on Court 4, 6-2, 6-3. Kirsten Lewis had a tight matchup with Abigail Owens in No. 5 singles and nearly pushed a tiebreak after dropping a 6-4 opening set, but fell in extra games in the second, 7-6(8).
With the score tied up, Mikulskyte was in her third set against No. 59 Jessica Golovin. The UK freshman had a quick 6-1 victory in the opening set, but Golovin bounced back with a 6-4 win in the second and capped off the match and dual with a second consecutive 6-4 victory in the deciding set.
With UK’s SEC Tournament run complete, the Wildcats will await their selection seeding for the NCAA Championships.
No. 20 LSU 4, No. 23 Kentucky 3
LSU Tennis Center – Baton Rouge, La.
April 21, 2016
Singles (Order of Finish: 6, 3, 1, 4, 5, 2*)
1. No. 35 Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) def. No. 22 Joana Vale Costa (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. No. 59 Jessica Golovin (LSU) def. Justina Mikulskyte (UK) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Mami Adachi (UK) def. Ryann Foster (LSU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) def. Akvile Paražinskaite (UK) 6-2, 6-3
5. Abigail Owens (LSU) def. Kirsten Lewis (UK) 6-4, 7-6(8)
6. Ella Taylor (LSU) def. Kate Lanier (UK) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 3*)
1. No. 1 Mami Adachi/Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) vs. Ryann Foster/Abigail Owens (LSU) 5-5, abandoned
2. Nadia Ravita/Justina Mikulskyte (UK) def. Joana Vale Costa/Ella Taylor (LSU) 6-2
3. Akvile Paražinskaite/Kirsten Lewis (UK) def. Skylar Holloway/Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) 6-3
Visit UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information on the Kentucky women’s tennis team and all 22 varsity sports. For additional info, notes, and behind-the-scenes updates, follow the team on Twitter at @UKWomensTennis and on Facebook.
