On Senior Day at the Boone Tennis Complex, the Kentucky women’s tennis team (12-13, 4-9 SEC) suffered a 4-2 loss to the LSU Tigers (12-9, 5-8 SEC) in a match that lasted over three and a half hours. The game began outdoors but had to be moved inside due to storms in the area.
Before the match commenced, Kentucky honored its three senior student-athletes—Florencia Urrutia, Maialen Morante, and Carlota Molina—with a pre-match ceremony.
The Tigers claimed the doubles point with 6-1 wins on the top two courts. As the singles session started, storms forced the teams to move indoors, where they resumed play after a brief warm-up.
LSU extended its lead with victories from Safiya Carrington at third singles and No. 10 Anastasiya Komar at first singles. Kentucky’s Zoe Hammond put the Wildcats on the scoreboard with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph on court five against Nikita Vishwase. The freshman’s win marked her ninth singles victory of the dual season.
Kentucky’s Elizabeth Stevens, a junior, displayed remarkable effort at second singles, coming from behind to defeat her top-25 opponent, Kylie Collins. After losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Stevens won the second set 6-2 and eventually topped Collins in a third-set tiebreaker, bringing the Wildcats within one point. However, LSU clinched the match on court four as Nine Geissler outlasted Kentucky’s Lidia Gonzalez in a prolonged, three-set battle.
The sixth singles match between Kentucky’s Maialen Morante and LSU’s Mia Rabinowitz was abandoned midway through the second set.
The Wildcats will now turn their attention to the SEC Tournament, which will be held April 19-23 at the University of Arkansas.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 10 Collins and Komar (LSU) def. No. 29 Stevens/Molina (UK) vs. 6-1
Carrington/Carrington (LSU) def. Gonzalez/Urrutia (UK): 6-1
Mills/Morante (UK) vs. Geissler/Vishwase (LSU): 3-2 (unfinished)
Singles
No. 17 Anastasiya Komar (LSU) def. No. 41 Florencia Urrutia (UK): 7-6 (0), 6-4
Elizabeth Stevens (UK) def. No. 29 Kylie Colins (LSU): 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (1)
Safiya Carrington (LSU) def. Carlotta Molina (UK): 6-4, 6-4
Nina Geissler (LSU) def. Lidia Gonzalez (UK): 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Zoe Hammond (UK) def. Nikita Vishwase (LSU): 6-4, 6-2
Maialen Morante (UK) vs. Mia Rabinowitz (LSU): 4-6, 3-2 (unfinished)
Order of Finish:
Doubles—2, 1
Singles— 3, 1, 5, 2, 4
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