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LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s tennis team made a memorable return to the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex after playing on the road for their past 3 matches, by extending their winning streak to four matches by defeating Xavier 6-1 and Chicago State 6-0. The Wildcats have had stellar non-conference play thus far and are gearing up for SEC play after a month of play.
Match 1: Xavier
Starting out doubles play, the Wildcats battle on all fronts. The court three pair of senior Ellie Myers and freshman Donna Le Roux fell to Xavier’s Flowers and Smitek, 6-3. On court one, Zoe Hammond and Julia Zhu broke Xavier’s serve in a pivotal game and went on to secure the match 6-4, leaving the teams tied for the doubles point. Xavier’s pair Deford/Rextroat ultimately defeated Asuncion Jadue and Reese Sager to secure the doubles point in the match on court two, 7-5.
Trailing 1-0, the Wildcats came out hot, securing first sets across the board. On court four, Jadue battled it out in a tiebreaker and Zhu on court 1 broke her opponent’s serve. No.93 Zoe Hammond was first Wildcat to gain a point for Kentucky, dominating court two and defeating Xavier’s Rexroat, 6-2, 6-0 to tie things at 1-1. Sager was next to secure a win, defeating Xavier’s Flowers, 6-3, 6-3 and pushing the Cats to lead 2-1. On court one, Julia Zhu battled in a match of trading sets and came out on top defeating Xavier’s Nugent 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 in an impressive, dominant third set. On court 4, Jadue put on a stellar performance defeating Xavier’s Deford, pulling out a three-set win, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (5), 6-3 and clinching the match for the Cats 4-1 after trailing 1-4 in the second set.
The coaches agreed to play out the match, with Donna Le Roux putting on a great performance defeating Xavier’s Owen, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 for her first Kentucky singles victory. Myers also defeated her opponent, Xavier’s Siminski, at six singles 7-5, 6-4.
Doubles:
1. Hammond/Zhu (UK) def. Nugent/Owen (XAV), 6-4
2. Deford/Rexroat(XAV def. Jadue/Sager (UK), 7-5
3. Flowers/Smitek (XAV) def. Le Roux/Myers (UK), 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles:
1. Zhu (UK) def. Nugent (XAV) 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1
2. Hammond (UK) Rexroat (XAV) 6-2, 6-0
3. Sager(UK) def. Flowers (XAV) 6-3, 6-3
4. Jadue (UK) def. Deford (XAV) 7-6 (2), 6-7 (5), 6-3
Le Roux (UK) def. Owen (XAV) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
6. Myers (UK) def. Siminski (XAV) 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6
Match 2: Chicago State
Coming off a dominant win over Xavier, the Cats were on a roll and swept through the doubles competition. On court one, Sager and Jadue defeated CSU’s Skowornska and Sanchez, 6-2. On court 3, Le Roux and Myers gained a victory over CSU’s Hughes and Morille 6-1. The match on court 2 with Fuduric and Elena Molla playing CSU’s King and Liyanage was left unfinished.
In singles, the Wildcats showed no sign of exhaustion, with Sager leading the cats in domination with a sweep over CSU’s King, 6-0, 6-0. Another stellar freshman performance was seen in Molla who, in her first singles match of the day, defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-2 gaining a point for Kentucky to put them up 3-0. Julia Zhu kept the ball rolling and nearly rolled over CSU’s Skowronska 6-0, 6-1, clinching Kentucky’s second clean sweep of the season, 4-0.
The Wildcats decided to play out the other matches, with Marina Fuduric soaring to a win over CSU’s Hughes 6-2, 6-1 and senior Ellie Myers sweeping CSU’s Morille 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles:
1. Sager/Jadue (UK) vs. Skowronska/Sanchez (CSU) 6-2
2. Fuduric/Molla (UK) def. King/Liyanage (CSU) UF
3. Le Roux/Myers (UK) def. Hughes/Morille (CSU) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles:
1. Zhu (UK) def. Skowronska (CSU) 6-0, 6-1
2. Hammond (UK) vs. Sanchez (CSU) UF
3. Sager (UK) def. King (CSU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Molla (UK) def. Liyanage (CSU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Fuduric (UK) def. Hughes (CSU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Myers (UK) vs. Morille (CSU) 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 5
The Kentucky women’s tennis team aims to continue its winning streak as they gear up for their last match in non-conference play with a double header against Bellarmine scheduled for this Wednesday, with the first match starting at 10 a.m. ET and the second at 3 p.m. ET.
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