No. 13 Alabama Defeats Kentucky 6-1 Sunday
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Despite a strong effort in singles, especially a court five victory from freshman Julia Zhu, the University of Kentucky women’s tennis team fell to No. 13 Alabama on Sunday, 6-1, at the Alabama Tennis Facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Kentucky (6-5, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) started the match by dropping the double point to Alabama (11-1, 2-0 SEC), losing on courts one and three. Alabama’s Ola Pitak and Klara Milicevic started the scoring with a 6-2 victory over UK’s Zoe Hammond and Ellie Myers. With Kentucky’s No. 43 Makayla Mills and Elizabeth Stevens leading 4-3 on court two, the Tide claimed the double point on court one as No. 37 Anne Marie Hiser and Loudmilla Bencheikh took down UK’s Lidia Gonzalez and Ellie Eades 6-2.
Singles started with Hiser from Alabama increasing the team score to 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Eades on court three. After Sedlackova took down Gonzalez on court two 6-3, 6-1 to give Alabama a 3-0 lead, it was Zhu that put the finishing touches on an impressive single win on court five to get Kentucky on the board. Zhu dominated both sets against Milicevic, winning 6-3 in the first set and 6-2 in the second set.
That left three singles matches still in progress and Kentucky was battling strong on all three courts. The eventual clinching point came from a nail-bitter on court one as Bencheikh took down Stevens in a second-set tiebreaker 7-5, 7-6 to win the match. Things were back-and-forth on courts four and six as well. Although the match was clinched for the Crimson Tide, play continued on both courts. Alabama’s Pitak made it 5-1, taking down Hammond in a third-set tiebreaker, while Parkhomenko finished off the day with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory on court six over Myers.
Kentucky will return to action Sunday, March 10 vs. Vanderbilt inside the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex. The match is slated to begin at Noon ET. Live stats and live video feed will be available online at UKathletics.com.
For the latest on UK Women’s Tennis, follow @UKWomensTennis on Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
KENTUCKY WOMEN’S TENNIS
NO. 13 ALABAMA 6, KENTUCKY 1
TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA
FINAL RESULTS
Doubles
1 – No. 37 Anne Marie Hiser/Loudmilla Bencheikh (BAMA) def. Lidia Gonzalez/Ellie Eades (UK) 6-2
2 – Anna Parkhomenko/Petra Sedlackova (BAMA) vs. No. 43 Makayla Mills/Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 4-3, unf.
3 – Ola Pitak/Klara Milicevic (BAMA) def. Zoe Hammond/Ellie Myers (UK) 6-2
Singles
1 – No. 31 Loudmilla Bencheikh (BAMA) def. Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
2 – No. 79 Petra Sedlackova (BAMA) def. Lidia Gonzalez 6-3, 6-1
3 – Anne Marie Hiser (BAMA) def. Ellie Eades (UK) 6-0, 6-2
4 – Ola Pitak (BAMA) def. Zoe Hammond (UK) 6-7, 7-5, 10-7
5 – Julia Zhu (UK) def. Klara Milicevic (BAMA) 6-3, 6-2
6 – Anna Parkhomenko (BAMA) def. Ellie Myers (UK) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 3, 1
Singles— 3, 5, 2, 1, 4, 6
