No. 23 Wildcats Fall to No. 7 South Carolina in Regular Season Finale
COLUMBIA, S.C. – In its regular season finale, the No. 23 Kentucky women’s tennis team dropped a tough 4-0 decision to seventh-ranked South Carolina on the road on Saturday afternoon.
UK ends the regular season with an overall 14-9 record, including a 6-7 mark in Southeastern Conference play. South Carolina is 19-5 overall and 11-2 in league play.
The match began with extremely competitive doubles play, but the Gamecocks clinched the early lead with a pair of wins on courts one and three. The teams split the top courts with Mami Adachi and Justina Mikulskyte teaming up at No. 2 doubles to earn a 6-4 victory over Ingrid Gamarra Martins/Mia Horvit. The point came down to No. 3 doubles, but Brianna Tulloch and Diana Tkachenko fell 7-5.
South Carolina would seal the victory with three straight singles wins on courts four, three and five. After falling 6-0 and 6-1 in the first sets, Adachi and Lesedi Jacobs each battled back in their second sets to make it close, but the Gamecocks ultimately earned 6-4 second-set wins in those matches to clinch the win.
Kentucky will be back in action next week, beginning postseason play at the SEC Tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee. The tournament will run Wednesday to Sunday, April 18-22. Final seeds for the event will be determined tomorrow afternoon with the conclusion of all league matches.
Agate
#7 South Carolina 4, #23 Kentucky 0
Carolina Tennis Center – Columbia, S.C.
April 14, 2018
Singles (Order of Finish: 4-3-5)
1 – #58 I. Gamarra Martins (SC) vs. Emily Fanning (UK) 7-6 (7-5), 2-1, unfinished
2 – #32 Hadley Berg (SC) vs. #87 Justina Mikulskyte (UK) 4-6, 4-3, unfinished
3 – Mia Horvit (SC) def. Mami Adachi (UK) 6-0, 6-4
4 – Paige Cline (SC) def. Diana Tkachenko (UK) 6-2, 6-1
5 – Megan Davies (SC) def. Lesedi Jacobs (UK) 6-1, 6-4
6 – Kennedy Wicker (SC) vs. Brianna Tulloch (UK) 5-7, 4-1, unfinished
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1-2-3)
1 – #55 Hadley Berg/Paige Cline (SC) def. #67 Emily Fanning/Lesedi Jacobs (UK) 6-4
2 – Mami Adachi/Justina Mikulskyte (UK) def. I. Gamarra Martins/Mia Horvit (SC) 6-4
3 – Megan Davies/Kennedy Wicker (SC) def. Brianna Tulloch/Diana Tkachenko (UK) 7-5
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKWomensTennis and on the web at UKathletics.com.
