UK women’s tennis win both games in season-opening double header
University of Kentucky Women’s Tennis player Justina Mikulskyte competes against the Northern Kentucky University Norse on Wednesday, January 24, 2018 in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Jordan Prather | Staff
January 24, 2018
The No. 21 Kentucky women’s tennis team opened its 2018 season with two wins on Wednesday in a double header against Miami (Oh.) and Northern Kentucky.
Kentucky managed to defeat Miami 7-0 while only dropping one set the entire match.
In doubles, Kentucky’s Justina Mikulskyte and Lesedi Jacobs were able to defeat Priyana Kalita and Milana Lysova 6-0 to get the match started. Mami Adachi and Emily Fanning of Kentucky also won their doubles match against Nelli Ponomareva and Anastasia Vasiukhina by a final count of 6-2.
The third doubles match was not finished, due to UK winning the point having already won two of three matches, but for the Cats, Diana Tkachenko and Brianna Tulloch, were up 3-2 on Emily Struble and Lena Babunski at the time the match was called.
Just as they did in doubles, UK’s singles matches jumped ahead quickly. UK’s Mikulskyte overwhelmed Lysova 6-0, 6-0. Fanning won her match against Ponomareva 6-0, 6-2 to get the Cats started with singles.
All of UK’s singles players were able to finish off their opponents in two sets despite Tulloch. Her opponent, Struble, won the first set 3-6 but Tulloch would come back to finish off the sweep for UK.
In the second half of the double header, UK took on in-state opponent Northern Kentucky, and won comfortably 4-0.
The doubles teams were showing no mercy against the Norse, with Tkachenko and Tulloch getting to finish their match in this one, beating Alyssa Defiglio and Hannah Watton 6-0. Adachi and Fanning were the second team to finish in the doubles, winning UK the point by defeating Maria Koo and Taylor Culbertson 6-1.
Singles were much of the same for the Wildcats, as they dominated their opponent once again.
Adachi was the first to finish her singles match, beating Sydney Power 6-0, 6-2. The next Cat to get the job done was Jacobs, winning her match against Culbertson 6-1, 6-3. Jacobs’ doubles partner Mikulskyte then won her match, defeating Koo 6-2, 6-1.
Mikulskyte’s win clinched the victory for the Wildcats by a score of 4-0.
Kentucky’s next match is Friday, Jan. 26, at 10 a.m. against Northwestern University at the Boone Tennis Complex.
