LEXINGTON, Kentucky – The 14th-ranked Texas A&M women’s tennis team suffered its second consecutive loss, falling to No. 26 Kentucky, 6-1, today at the Boone Tennis Center indoor courts.
“It definitely was a tough day for the Aggies,” A&M head coach Mark Weaver said. “We played on four extremely fast indoor courts, which made for quite a contrast to the slower outdoor courts at Vanderbilt. We actually played quite well in the doubles as we had two match points at No. 1 doubles that didn’t go our way, and we needed just one more point at No. 3 doubles and the point is ours. Four of the singles matches literally came down to one or two points as well. I feel that Kentucky played the bigger points a little better than we did and perhaps took their chances more than us, and pretty much all the chances they took went their way.”
A&M falls to 11-6 overall and 3-3 in Southeastern Conference matches only. Kentucky picks up its first league win, improving to 12-5 overall and 1-4 in SEC action. The Wildcats, who had one of the most challenging four-match stretches to open conference play, also snap a three-match losing skid against A&M, notching their first league win against the Aggies since the teams first met as conference foes in 2013.
Kentucky won the first two doubles matches to be completed to take a 1-0 lead. The fifth-ranked duo of Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi held off A&M’s 41st-ranked Rachel Pierson and Eva Paalma, 7-6, at the No. 1 line, and Nadia Ravita and Justina Milkuskyte pulled away from A&M’s Ines Deheza and Domenica Gonzalez at the No. 3 line, 7-5, to clinch the point.
A&M’s Rutuja Bhosale and Anna Mamalat, ranked 56 in the nation in doubles were tied with Akvile Paražinskaite and Morgan Chumney at No. 2 when the doubles point was determined, and the match was abandoned.
In singles, the Wildcats won the first set in five of six singles matches. Milkuskyte was first off and gave Kentucky a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over 40th-ranked Saska Gavrilovska at No. 1. Ravita followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Pierson at No. 3, and 42nd-ranked Aldila Sutjiadi clinched the victory, putting the Wildcats up, 4-0, following a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 win over Bhosale at No. 3.
Akvile Paražinskaite then defeated Gonzalez, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 at No. 4 before Deheza put the Aggies on the scoreboard with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Adachi at No. 5. It would be the only point A&M would earn, as Kristen Lewis topped Mamalat in a third-set 10-point tiebreaker at No. 6 to win the match, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (5).
The Aggies return home next weekend to host Missouri, Friday at 5 p.m., and Arkansas, Sunday at noon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, where A&M is 8-0 this season.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women’s tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women’s tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
#26 Kentucky 6, #14 Texas A&M 1
Boone Tennis Center
Lexington, Kentucky
March 19, 2016
Singles
1. Justina Milkuskyte (UK) def. No. 40 Saska Gavrilovska (TAMU), 6-2, 6-3
2. No. 42 Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) def. Rutuja Bhosale (TAMU), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
3. Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Rachel Pierson (TAMU), 6-4, 6-3
4. Akvile Paražinskaite (UK) def. Domenica Gonzalez (TAMU), 7-5, 1-6, 7-6
5. Ines Deheza (TAMU) def. Mami Adachi (UK), 6-1, 6-2
6. Kirsten Lewis (UK) def. Anna Mamalat, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (5)
Doubles
1. No. 5 Mami Adachi/Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) def. No. 41 Rachel Pierson/Eva Paalma (TAMU), 7-6
2. Akvile Paražinskaite/Morgan Chumney (UK) vs. No. 56 Rutuja Bhosale/Anna Mamalat (TAMU), 5-5, abandoned
3. Nadia Ravita/Justina Milkuskyte (UK) def. Ines Deheza/Domenica Gonzalez (TAMU), 7-5
Order of finish
Singles: 1, 3, 2*, 4, 5, 6
Doubles: 1, 3
Team records:
Texas A&M: 11-6, 3-3 SEC
Kentucky: 12-5, 1-4 SEC
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics