LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s tennis team (8-9, 0-8 SEC) fell to No. 7 Texas (12-3, 7-1 SEC) this afternoon. Senior Zoe Hammond had a highlighted match for the Wildcats in singles by defeating the No. 1 ranked singles player in the country and leading doubles alongside Marina Fuduric.

Starting off doubles at first singles, Zoe Hammond and Marina Fuduric won court two doubles 7-5. With eyes onto courts two and three doubles, Texas’s Elizabeth Ionescu and Eszter Meri defeated Julia Zhu and Donna Le Roux on the third singles court. Texas clinched the doubles point in a close match where Asuncion Jadue and Reese Sager fell short in a tie-breaker against the Longhorns’ Anastasia Abbagnato and Salma Drugdova, 7-6(5).

Moving onto singles trailing 1-0, Elena Molla faced Elizabeth Ionescu, with the Longhorns taking a 2-1 lead through Texas’s Ionescu 6-3, 6-1 singles win.

On court two, Zhu battled against Abbagnato and wrapped up her match, falling short in the second set 6-0, 7-5.

Although Kentucky now trailed 3-0, the Wildcats saw a spark from Hammond’s dominance on court one, as she got a win at first singles over Texas’s No. 1, Carmen Herea, 6-3, 6-3. This marks her highest career singles ranking victory, her first ranked victory of the season, and brought tons of momentum to the Wildcats on Friday afternoon.

Next, on court six, Wildcat freshman Donna LeRoux defeated Salma Drugdova 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, closing the score to 3-2 and giving Kentucky hope and putting the victory within reach at 3-2.

Over on court five, Jadue’s match against Ngijol-Carré ended 7-6(5), 7-5, securing Texas’s win of 4-2. This left Sager’s match unfinished over on court three with a back and forth score of 0-6, 6-4, 4-5.

Although a loss, Kentucky had multiple performances to be proud of on Friday afternoon at the Hilary J. Boone Center. The Wildcats will head to College Station for a match against the Texas A&M Aggies on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at the George P. Center before heading back to Lexington to take on Missouri later next week.

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Doubles Results:

  1. No. 53 Anastasia  Abbagnato /Salma Drugdova (TEX) def. Asuncion Jadue/Reese Sager (UK) 7-6(5)
  2. Zoe Hammond/ Marina Fuduric (UK) def. Carmen Herea/ Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 7-5
  3. Elizabeth Ionescu/Eszter Meir (TEX) def. Julia Zhu/Donna Le Roux (UK) 6-4

Order of finish: 2,1,3

Singles Results:

  1. Zoe Hammond (UK) def. No.1 Carmen Herea (TEX) 6-3, 6-3
  2. No. 12 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) def. Julia Zhu (UK) 6-0, 7-5
  3. Reese Sager (UK) vs. No. 71 Eszter Meri (TEX) 0-6, 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
  4. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Ella Molla (UK) 6-3, 1-6
  5. Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Asuncion Jadue (UK) 7-6, 7-5
  6. Donna Le Roux (UK) def. Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2

Order of finish: 4,2,1,6,5