Women’s Tennis Falls at No. 11 Texas A&M
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Tex. – Julia Zhu won her fourth straight match in Southeastern Conference action, but Kentucky women’s tennis (7-9, 1-6 SEC) dropped a 6-1 decision at No. 11 Texas A&M (15-6, 7-1 SEC) on Sunday afternoon.
The Aggies opened the match by racing out to the doubles point. Victories of 6-1 and 6-0 on Courts two and three, respectively, propelled Texas A&M to an opening lead. However, Kentucky’s No. 1 doubles pairing of Elizabeth Stevens and Makayla Mills held a break advantage at 4-2 over No. 5 Mary Stoiana and Mia Kupres when the opening session ended.
Texas A&M continued their dominant start to the match by claiming victory in all six first sets of singles action. No. 36 Mia Kupres doubled the Aggie lead by taking down Lidia Gonzalez in straight sets on court three. Next, the number one singles player in the country, Mary Stoiana, defeated Elizabeth Stevens on court one, 6-2, 6-1.
Needing just one more point to clinch the dual, Lucciana Perez defeated Ellie Eades, 6-2, 6-3, on court four. The two teams decided to play out the match, allowing the Aggie to balloon their lead. Ellie Myers dropped a tight, 6-2, 6-4 contest on court six, and Zoe Hammond fell to No. 14 Nicole Khirin on court two in two tight sets.
The Wildcats were able to pick up the last point of the contest, as Zhu came back from a set down to continue the undefeated start to her SEC singles career. Zhu dropped a lopsided first set before rallying to open a 4-0 lead in the second. However, Jeanette Mireles recovered to even the set at five-all, but Zhu buckled down to win the final two games of the set and force a match tiebreaker. The Berlin, Germany native raced out to a 9-5 lead in the decider but saw four match points dwindle away. However, a long rally at nine-all was punctuated by an overhead smash to give the Wildcat the lead. She would serve for the match and claim victory on the following point.
Next weekend, the Cats will return to the friendly confines of the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, hosting a pair of matches against Missouri and Arkansas. The Wildcats will host the Tigers in the first match of the weekend, playing on Friday, March 29 with a scheduled first serve time of 5 p.m. ET. Kentucky will then host an Easter Sunday showdown against the Razorbacks on Sunday, March 31 at 1 p.m. ET. Admission to all home matches is free to the public, with live stats and live stream available to fans who cannot attend.
RESULTS
Kentucky vs. Texas A&M
Doubles
Mills/Stevens (UK) vs. No. 5 Stoiana/Kupres (TAMU) 4-2 (unfinished)
Perez/Mireles (TAMU) def. Hammond/Eades (UK) 6-1
Fitch/Khirin (TAMU) def. Gonzalez/Zhu (UK) 6-0
Singles
No. 1 Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 6-2, 6-1
No. 14 Nicole Khirin (TAMU) def. Zoe Hammond (UK) 7-5, 6-3
No. 36 Mia Kupres (TAMU) def. Lidia Gonzalez (UK) 6-0, 6-0
Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. Ellie Eades (UK) 6-2, 6-3
Julia Zhu (UK) def. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU) 1-6, 7-5, [11-9]
Ellie Pittman (TAMU) def. Ellie Myers (UK) 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish:
Doubles—3, 2*
Singles— 3, 1, 4*, 6, 2, 5
For the latest on UK Women’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram at @UKWomensTennis.
