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STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Kentucky women’s tennis squad (8-4, 0-3 SEC) suffered a tough loss to Mississippi State in Starville on Saturday afternoon, 4-1. Zhu highlighted the loss with the Wildcats only point, coming from the junior on court one of singles.
The Wildcats struggled to keep their success in doubles going, with Mississippi State coming out hot to take the 1-0 lead. The Kentucky pair of senior Ellie Myers and freshman Donna Le Roux fell to the Bulldogs’ Mia Robinson and Athina Pitta, 6-3. Court one was the next to finish with senior Zoe Hammond, alongside Zhu, falling in a close 7-5 match against Chiara Di Genova and Cha Kempenaers-Pocz. Court two of doubles was left unfinished, but the Wildcat duo of freshman Reese Sager and sophomore Asuncion Jadue led 6-5 before the completion of the doubles point.
Trailing 1-0, the Wildcats fought in the singles portion of the match, with three of the six courts going into three sets. However, it was all Bulldogs early as they took wins over Jadue 6-4, 6-2 on court four and freshman Elena Molla 6-1, 6-2. This put the Wildcats at a 3-0 deficit on the match.
Looking for a spark on the remaining courts, it was Zhu who provided once again from court one. Zhu defeated MSU’s Kempenaers-Pocz 7-5, 6-3. This put Kentucky on board, 3-1.
The other three singles courts all forced a third set, all also showing immense fight. It was court four, where Sager was defeated by Genova for the Bulldogs clinch. This competed the match, leaving Hammond and Myers’ matches both unfinished on courts two and six.
Kentucky (8-4, 0-3 SEC) concludes the three game SEC road stint to start the conference season. They now look forward to hosting a conference match on Thursday, the home SEC opener, against Arkansas at 5 p.m. ET at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center.
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Doubles Results:
Genova/Kempenaers-Pocz (MSU) def. Hammond/Zhu (UK) 7-5
Jadue/Sager (UK) vs. Ntondele Zinga/Cohen (MSU), 6-5 – unfinished
Robinson/Pitta (MSU) def. Myers/LeRoux (UK) 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles Results:
Zhu (UK) def. Kempenaers-Pocz (MSU) 7-5, 6-3
Hammond (UK) vs Ntondele Zinga (MSU) 7-5, 2-6, 2-3 – unfinished
C. Aulia (UT) def. Sager (UK) 6-3, 6-0
Troiano (MSU) def. Jadue (UK) 6-4, 6-2
Robinson (MSU) def. Molla (UK) 6-1, 6-2
Myers (UK) vs. Pitta (MSU) 7-5, 3-6, 3-4 – unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 3
