LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s tennis team (9-8, 3-6 SEC) is on a roll, as they picked up their third consecutive SEC victory 4-2 on Sunday against the No. 25 Alabama Crimson Tide. The victory showed the team’s strengths on full display, grabbing the doubles point and going on to singles to battle strongly as well.
The doubles matches were all thrilling, starting on court three where sophomore Julia Zhu and junior Ellie Myers defeated Alabama’s Maria Andrienko and Magaux Maquet in convincing fashion, 6-1. The other two courts went down to the wire, with fifth-year Lizzy Stevens and senior Ellie Eades ultimately finishing their match and giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead by beating the duo of Maria Vaquero and Petra Sedlackova 6-4. On court two, junior Zoe Hammond and freshman Asuncion Jadue had a match that just barely went unfinished, leading the set 5-4 and the game 40-30.
With the 1-0 lead, Kentucky headed into singles ready to play. In a tough battle on court one, Hammond fell to Sedlackova 6-3, 6-1, evening the score at 1-1. However, that would be the only point that the Crimson Tide would be able to hold onto. Zhu gave Kentucky back the lead 2-1, defeating Klara Milicevic on court two 6-2, 6-4. Stevens held up on court three to hold off Andrienko 6-3, 7-6(3). Bucher dropped an intense match on court four 6-2, 6-7(6), 1-6 to leave things to the final two courts. In the end it was Myers who clinched the three-and-a-half hour match for the Wildcats in the end, defeating the Tide’s Nelson 6-3, 6-3 to give them their third straight victory.
The 4-2 win over No. 25 Alabama marks the Wildcats third straight, putting them at 9-8 on the year and 3-6 in SEC play. They will return home next Friday at 5 p.m. as they take on the defending NCAA National Champions, the Texas A&M Aggies.
For the latest on UK Women’s Tennis, follow @UKWomensTennis on Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
