Kentucky womens tennis defeats Arkansas 5-2 for fifth consecutive win
Carla Girbau hits the ball across the net during the University of Kentucky vs. Tennessee women’s tennis match on Sunday, March 28, 2021, at Hillary J. Boone Tennis Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Michael Clubb | Staff
March 28, 2023
No. 45 Kentucky womens tennis traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Sunday where it defeated No. 65 Arkansas 5-2, making it the Wildcat’s fifth win in a row.
The win also marks the team’s third straight win in the Southeastern Conference, a streak that hasn’t been achieved by Kentucky since 2017.
The Wildcats saw strong performances throughout the day, as they won at least one set on all six singles courts.
Kentucky’s doubles teams were dominant throughout the matches, going a perfect 2-0 behind impressive performances from Elizabeth Stevens and Carlota Molina on one team and Lidia Gonzalez and Florencia Urrutia on the other.
Gonzalez and Urrutia got the Cats off to a strong start, beating their opponents in an easy fashion 6-1.
No. 63 Stevens and Molina, Kentucky’s strongest duo, followed up their teammates with another win over Arkansas’s No. 23 ranked duo by a score of 6-4.
No. 48 Urrutia once again beat a ranked opponent for the third time in a row during SEC play, as she won in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
UK’s Zoe Hammond fell short of a dramatic comeback, losing in the third set 6-4, closing down Kentucky’s lead to just 2-1.
Senior Maialen Morante won in straight sets once again, as she still has yet to let her opponent win a single set in conference play, continuing her SEC win streak to four wins.
Gonzalez, a sophomore from Madrid, Spain, got off to a slow start, but she eventually won after winning 12 of the last 14 games. Her 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win shut down the Arkansas comeback.
Molina could not have asked for a better birthday as she won in straight sets after an exciting first set went to a tiebreaker.
Kentucky will return to Hillary J. Boone Tennis Center to face No. 11 Auburn on Friday, March 31, at noon EST.
