Women’s Tennis edges Alabama in Lexington

John Morgan Francis

The No. 20 ranked Cats faced off with SEC rival Alabama in their final weekend of regular season play. UK succeeded in denying the Crimson Tide their first SEC win of the season, winning 4-3.

Continuing to dominate doubles’ play, the Cats took the opening point. UK pairing Nadia Ravita and Justina Mikulskytė cruised over Andie Daniell and Joanna Nena to a 6-1 victory.

Clinching the second point for UK was the No. 2 ranked doubles team Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi with a score of 6-4. The duo defeated No. 78 Erin Routliffe and Natalia Maynetto of the Crimson Tide.

In singles play, the Crimson Tide were fortunate as UK’s Ravita was forced to end her match with a loss due to an injury. The forfeit resulted in a 2-5 victory for Alabama’s Natalia Maynetto.

Even at 1-1, the Cats’ Adachi pulled her weight by defeating Joanna Nena Savva in a dominating 6-1, 6-1 finish.

Refusing to go away, Alabama evened the score at 2-2 with Danielle Spielmann topping Akvilė Paražinskaitė 6-3, 6-4.

Senior Kirsten Lewis came up huge for the Cats on Friday afternoon. Facing the adversity of being down to Alabama’s Bennette Dunn 3-6, Lewis bounced back by winning back-to-back sets 6-2, 6-3.

The Tide’s No. 28 Routliffe also faced adversity, as she went down 2-6 to UK’s Mikulskytė after the first set. She grinded out the win by winning back-to-back sets 6-3, 6-4.

With the match tied 3-3, the reigning SEC player of the week in Sutjiadi came in the clutch for the Cats. She came out strong, defeating No. 42 Andie Daniell 6-1. The second set, however, went to Alabama 6-3. Fighting back, UK’s Sutjiadi clinched the match with a 6-4 win in extra sets.

UK climbs to 17-7 on the season and a .500 record of 6-6 in the SEC. Falling miserably were the Crimson Tide as they suffered their 16th loss of the season and now own a 4-16 record overall. They were also handed their 12th loss in a row in SEC play.

The Cats will battle No. 12 Auburn on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. ET. The match will be held at Boone Tennis Center. Sunday will also serve as UK’s senior day as the will honor their three seniors: Kate Lanier, Lewis, and Ravita.