Kentucky Exits SEC Tournament, Falls to South Carolina, 4-3

NASHVILLE – In a rematch of its regular-season finale, the Kentucky women’s tennis team saw its Southeastern Conference tournament run cut short Friday night, dropping a tough 4-3 decision to fourth-seeded South Carolina. The Wildcats fall to 16-8, 7-6 SEC, while the Gamecocks advance to 18-7, 8-5 SEC.

UK took the Gamecocks down to the very last match, but couldn’t push past the 11th-ranked Gamecocks to see the same final result as the regular season. 

Unlike the regular-season matchup between the two, South Carolina struck first by taking the first point with doubles victories on courts one and two. Kentucky’s one team of second-ranked Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi fell first, falling 6-1. The remaining two matches were neck-and-neck, but South Carolina came up with the 7-5 win over Akvile Paražinskaite and Morgan Chumney in No. 2 doubles to clinch the point.

The Gamecocks stretched their lead to three with two quick singles victories, as both Justina Mikulskyte and Emily Fanning fell in straight sets on courts five and four, respectively.

It was Adachi at No. 3 singles to put the Wildcats on the board and kickstart the comeback, taking a 6-4, 6-3 win over Paige Cline. On court two, Paražinskaite brought Kentucky within one with a huge win over No. 45 Ingrid Martins before Sutjiadi evened the score with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over 58th-ranked Mia Horvit.

For the second straight match, it was up to Chumney in No. 6 singles. Despite Chumney grabbing an early 5-2 lead in the first, South Carolina’s Brigit Folland got the momentum going her way and took the match, 7-5, 6-2.

The Wildcats will now await their NCAA Championship selection, expecting to make their fourth-straight appearance in the tournament. The 64-team field will be announced Tuesday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

1 – No. 20 Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) def. No. 58 Mia Horvit (SC) 6-2, 6-3

2 – Akvile Paražinskaite (UK) def. No. 45 Ingrid Martins (SC) 6-4, 6-4

3 – Mami Adachi (UK) def. Paige Cline (SC) 6-4, 6-3

4 –Silvia Chinellato (SC) def. Emily Fanning (UK) 6-3, 6-3

5 – Hadley Berg (SC) def. Justina Mikulskyte (UK) 6-3, 6-0

6 – Brigit Folland (SC) def. Morgan Chumney (UK) 7-5, 6-2

1 – No. 29 Hadley Berg/Paige Cline (SC) def. No. 2 Aldila Sutjiadi/Mami Adachi (UK) 6-1

2 – Brigit Folland/Ingrid Martins (SC) def. #87 Morgan Chumney/Akvile Paražinskaite (UK) 7-5

3 – Rachel Rohrabacher/Caroline Dailey (SC) vs. Justina Mikulskyte/Emily Fanning (UK) 6-5, unf.

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