In its first ITA/Oracle Top-25 contest, No. 21 UK women’s tennis upset the 19th-best team in the nation at LSU on Friday with 4-3 final score.
For only the fourth time this season, UK did not earn the doubles point. However, No. 55 Justina Mikulskyte and redshirt-junior Akvilė Paražinskaitė upset the third-best duo in the nation in Eden Richardson and Jessica Golovin, who won the 2018 NCAA Doubles Championship. The Wildcat twosome are unbeaten against ranked foes, 4-0.
UK needed to generate momentum, trailing the Tigers by one ahead of singles. For the second time this season, Jacobs competed on court two in singles. It was her first appearance as No. 2 in league matches. Prior to her performance on Friday, the redshirt sophomore was 8-2 overall (SEC 3-0). Jacobs held the best win streak in singles, having won six straight matches prior to Friday.
Jacobs did not disappoint in her conference debut on court two, recording the first finish with a 6-1, 6-1 win. Freshman Tiphanie Fiquet followed in winning fashion, reporting a 6-3, 6-2 win on court four. The newcomer is 12-1 in singles. The back-to-back singles wins helped Kentucky to a 2-1 lead over LSU, only needing two points to win.
No. 48 Mikulskyte rallied from behind, logging yet another upset by a 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 victory over Eden Richardson, the 15th-best singles player in the nation. Junior Diana Tkachenko capped the night, also from behind, charting the match win by a 5-7, 7-6, 6-1 decision.
In its next performance, No. 21 UK will play No. 29 Texas A&M at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas, on Sunday. The first serve is set for noon ET.
For more on Kentucky women’s tennis, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, Kentucky Women’s Tennis on Facebook, or on the web at UKathletics.com.
– GO CATS –
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Cami Moore
