Kentucky women’s tennis (8-1) delivered a statement performance, sweeping Bellarmine (6-13) in a doubleheader.
The Kentucky Wildcats opened doubles play with momentum as Ellie Myers and Donna Le Roux delivered a bagel (6-0) over Marika Caruk and Claudia Fuste.
Marina Fuduric and Elena Molla followed in a tightly contested matchup against Nikola Kollaritsch and Gracie Hurley, ultimately prevailing in a 7-5 tiebreak to secure the doubles point.
Zoe Hammond and Julia Zhu’s match against Vendula Kryslova and Reese Parker was stopped early after Kentucky clinched the point. At the time of stoppage, they trailed 6-5 while leading 30-love in the game.
Kentucky carried its strong play into singles competition, where Reese Sager set the tone with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Caruk. Hammond, after her doubles match was stopped early, responded with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Kryslova, leaving Kentucky one victory away from claiming the first half.
Molla provided that decisive point in convincing fashion, defeating Fuste 6-1, 6-3. Le Roux’s singles match was halted after the Wildcats secured the team wins, with Le Roux leading 4-1 in the third set after taking the first set 6-3 and dropping the second 6-3.
“Yeah, love this start,” Kentucky head coach Shelley Jaudon said. “We’ve come ready, focused, trying to focus on the work that we need to do and things we’re trying to do better. We did a great job at that in the first match and we have to do it again in the second.”
Kentucky maintained its intensity in the second half, continuing to apply pressure from the outset. Hammond and Zhu opened doubles play with a bagel of their own over Parker and Kryslova.
Sager and Ascuncion Jadue followed with a 6-2 victory against Kollaritsch and Hurley to secure another doubles point. With the point decided, Fuduric and Molla’s match against Caruk and Fuste was stopped early with Kentucky leading 4-3.
In singles, Fuduric delivered a statement performance against Kollaritsch, winning 6-4, 6-1. Myers added another strong showing, taking the first set 6-3 before closing with a bagel in the second set.
Zhu sealed the sweep for the Wildcats, completing the 8-0 result with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Kryslova. Jadue’s match was stopped early after she won the first set 6-1 and lost the second 6-3.
“The good thing is, we’ve got a lot of depth on the team,” Jaudon said. “We’re able to sub bodies, give the girls extra rest, and we’ll kind of go look back at the lineup and make good choices of who goes out there.”
Kentucky will go on the road for its next matchup, traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to face the Crimson Tide. The matchup is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m. ET and will be held at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility.
