Women’s Tennis Falls at Columbia, 4-2
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Kentucky Women’s Tennis (4-2, 0-0 SEC) dropped its second-straight road contest, falling 4-2 to Columbia (4-1, 0-0 IVY) at the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center in New York City.
Play in the Big Apple began with doubles, as the Lions claimed the opening point of the match. All three courts featured lopsided, 6-1 scores, with Columbia coming out on top in two of the three matchups. No. 25 Ellie Eades and Lidia Gonzalez were the lone Wildcats to record a doubles victory, winning on Court 2.
After the intermission, singles play commenced with each school claiming the first set on three courts. Hammond was the first to claim victory, tying the match at one with a runaway 6-4, 6-0 win over Wang on Court 4. With the win, Hammond improves her team-leading, undefeated singles record to 5-0.
The Lions would respond quickly, however, as they took a 3-1 lead with wins on Court 2 and Court 5.
The Cats would try to pull back in the match, aided by a gutsy straight-set victory by Sophomore Ellie Myers. The Evansville, Ind. Native raced to the opening set, before staving off her Lion opposition to win her No. 6 singles match, 6-2, 7-5.
With the Wildcats needing both of the remaining courts, decisive third sets would be the difference in the match. After dropping the first set, Stevens was able to take control in the latter stages of the second frame to send the top singles flight to a decider. However, Stevens’ opponent, No. 116 Julia Haynes would claim an early break and never look back, clinching the victory for Columbia.
Gonzalez, who claimed the first set and held a break in the third, would see her No. 3 singles match go unfinished when the dual ended.
The Cats close out their two-match Ivy League road trip on Sunday, February 4, as they travel to New Jersey to take on the Princeton Tigers in a dual slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. (ET).
Fans can follow along with play from Jadwin Gymnasium by following live stats or tuning into Princeton’s live stream.
RESULTS
Kentucky vs. Columbia
Doubles
Zhang/Wang (CU) def. No. 36 Mills/Stevens (UK) 6-1
No. 25 Eades/Gonzalez (UK) def. Tewolde/Rimondini (CU) 6-1
Krishnan/Strugnell (CU) def. Hammond/Zhu (UK) 6-1
Singles
No. 116 Haynes (CU) def. Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Zhang (CU) def. Ellie Eades (UK) 6-4, 6-4
Lidia Gonzalez (UK) vs. Krishnan (CU) 7-5, 4-6, 4-4 (unfinished)
Zoe Hammond (UK) def. Wang (CU) 6-4, 6-0
Schou (CU) def. Julia Zhu (UK) 6-4, 6-4
Ellie Myers (UK) def. Lerby (CU) 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 3, 2, 1
Singles— 4, 2, 5, 6, 1
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