Kentucky women’s tennis team (8-2, 0-1 SEC) opened SEC play with a tough road loss, falling to No. 9 Tennessee (5-1) 4-0 at Barksdale Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Wildcats began in doubles competition with pairings Marina Fuduric and Elena Molla, Reese Sager and Asuncion Jadue and Zoe Hammond alongside Julia Zhu.
Tennessee secured the early momentum, taking the doubles point, earning victories on courts two and three.
On court three, Fuduric and Molla fought hard against Tennessee’s Maeve Thornton and Saray Yli-Piipari but fell short 6-2.
Court two remained a hard-fought battle for freshman Sager and sophomore Jadue. The Wildcat pairing fought for an early tie game of 2-2, but ultimately fell 6-3 to the Vols pairing of Vanesa Suarez and Francesca Mattioli.
On court one, Kentucky nearly forced a comeback win in doubles play. The dynamic duo of senior Hammond and junior Zhu pushed hard against the nationally ranked tandem of Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso.
The Cats were trailing just 5-3 before the match went unfinished once the Lady Volunteers secured the doubles point and a 1-0 team lead.
Trailing 1-0 heading into singles, Kentucky struggled to find an early momentum as Tennessee extended its advantage.
Sager was the first Wildcat to finish following a two-set loss to No. 61 Aulia. The freshman kept the first set close before falling 6-3, followed by a 6-0 loss in the second set.
Jadue had a rough start against Tennessee’s Francesca Mattioli, falling to a 6-0 loss. The difficult start did not deter the sophomore, however, as she battled hard in the second set for a score of 5-3 before her match went unfinished.
Zhu delivered one of Kentucky’s strongest performances of the afternoon on court one. Zhu pushed hard against Tennessee’s Suarez to a tightly contested first-set tiebreaker before falling 7-6 (5).
Freshman Donna Le Roux provided another stellar performance for the Wildcats on court six and emerged as the only Kentucky player to claim a first-set victory.
Le Roux snagged the opening set 7-5 over Audrey Aulia. The freshman was ready to battle for the second set when the match concluded, leaving the score at 1-2, Aulia in the lead.
Tennessee continued to build its lead with Yli-Piipari defeating Molla 6-2, 6-2 on court five.
On court two, No. 94 Hammond battled hard against No. 25 Britez Risso but fell short in the first set 6-0. In the second set, Hammond rallied but ultimately lost 6-3.
Tennessee won the match 4-0 and extend its winning streak over Kentucky to six consecutive matches.
With the bulk of SEC play still ahead, Kentucky will look to rally and secure some hard-fought conference wins.
Kentucky women’s tennis will be back on the road for more SEC action on Thursday, Feb. 26, as it takes on Alabama. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility.
