The No. 13 Kentucky women’s tennis team picked up its fifth victory over a ranked Southeastern Conference foe on Sunday afternoon, downing No. 11 Auburn 4-3. Kentucky rises to 13-3 overall including a 5-2 mark in league play, while the Tigers drop to 18-6, 2-5 SEC.
Kentucky built up its momentum early to earn the doubles point. Justina Mikulskytė and Emily Fanning got the Cats half of the way there by downing Auburn’s Alannah Griffin/Caroline Turner, 6-2. After being tied 2-2 early on, fourth-ranked Aldila Sutjiadi and Mami Adachi pulled away from Taylor Russo/Andie Dikosavljevic to clinch the point, winning 6-3.
The Tigers evened the score at one as sophomore Akvilė Paražinskaitė fell to 78th-ranked Dikosavljevic in straight sets, but Sutjiadi quickly reclaimed the Wildcats’ lead with a huge 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 34 Alizee Michaud. From there, the remaining matches would all require a third set.
The match went back and forth as both teams traded matches to ultimately leave it up to Mikulskytė in No. 5 singles. After dropping the first set in a 7-3 tiebreak, the sophomore battled back to take the second set 7-5. In the third set, Mikulskytė powered through to win the third set 6-1 and clinch the Cats’ victory.
The Wildcats will be back in action next weekend as they return home to face No. 18 Arkansas on Friday at 6 p.m. ET and No. 44 Missouri on Sunday at noon.
Agate
#13 Kentucky 4, #11 Auburn 3
Yarbrough Tennis Center – Auburn, Ala.
March 26, 2017
Singles competition (Order of Finish: 2-1-3-4-6-5)
1 – #19 Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) def. #34 Alizee Michaud (AU) 6-4, 6-3
2 – #78 Andie Dikosavljevic (AU) def. #125 Akvilė Paražinskaitė (UK) 6-2, 6-2
3 – #85 Taylor Russo (AU) def. Mami Adachi (UK) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
4 – Emily Fanning (UK) def. Georgie Axon (AU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
5 – Justina Mikulskytė (UK) def. Roos van der Zwaan (AU) 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-1
6 – Caroline Turner (AU) def. Morgan Chumney (UK) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition (Order of Finish: 3-1)
1 – #4 Aldila Sutjiadi/Mami Adachi (UK) def. Taylor Russo/Andie Dikosavljevic (AU) 6-3
2 – Alizee Michaud/Reka Muller (AU) vs. Akvilė Paražinskaitė/Morgan Chumney (UK) 5-4, unfinished
3 – Emily Fanning/Justina Mikulskytė (UK) def. Alannah Griffin/Caroline Turner (AU) 6-2
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKWomensTennis and on the web at UKathletics.com.
‑ GO CATS –
For more information contact:
Karlie Kinneer (karlie.kinneer@uky.edu)
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Karlie Kinneer
Media Relations Assistant