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BATON ROUGE, La. – The Kentucky women’s tennis team suffered a 4-2 loss to No. 10 LSU on Friday in Baton Rouge, the first of their two road games this weekend. The Wildcats fall to 6-4 overall in the season and look to bounce back on Sunday in Oxford, Mississippi by picking up their first SEC win of the season.
The No. 56 Wildcats found themselves on the backfoot early in the match as LSU claimed both doubles matches that were completed. The duo of fifth-year Lizzy Stevens and senior Ellie Eades was defeated 6-1 by LSU’s No. 22 pair, Anita Sahdiieva and Tilwith Di Girolami, while Julia Zhu and Asuncion Jadue dropped a 6-3 decision to Kenna Erickson and Gaby Rivera. The doubles match on court three was unfinished with Kentucky trailing 5-3.
In singles, Kentucky managed to secure two victories. No. 59 Julia Zhu picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win over LSU’s Anita Sahdiieva in the third position, and Tess Bucher earned a 6-4, 6-2 win against Kenna Erickson playing at five. However, LSU quickly built a commanding lead with dominant performances in the top two singles spots. Cadence Brace defeated Zoe Hammond 6-2, 6-0 at first singles, while No. 72 Tilwith Di Girolami defeated Lizzy Stevens 6-2, 6-2 on court two.
Kentucky’s Ellie Myers fought hard in the six spot but ultimately fell 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) to No. 121 Gaby Rivera. The match between Ellie Eades and LSU’s Kinaa Graham was left unfinished, with Eades coming from behind to win the second set 7-5, but trailing 3-0 in the third.
Despite the loss, Kentucky showed resilience in singles play, particularly from Zhu and Bucher, who each notched a victory. The Wildcats now stand at 6-4 on the season and will look to take their first SEC win of the season on Sunday at Ole Miss.
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