Fayetteville, Ark. – No. 30 South Carolina women’s tennis fell 3-4 to No. 57 Kentucky in the SEC Tournament on Thursday. The Gamecocks took the doubles point but the Wildcats battled back to take four singles matches to win the match.
The Gamecocks looked strong in doubles with the Court 3 pair of Allie Gretkowski and Ana Cruz claiming the first win in a dominant 6-1 takedown. The Wildcats quickly evened the decision with a 6-1 win of their own on Court 2.
The final match on was between No. 38 Ayana Akli and Sarah Hamner against No. 22 Carlota Molina and Elizabeth Stevens. The match was even to start but the Gamecocks secured a late break to take it 6-4, clinching the doubles point.
Play moved to singles where No. 9 Akli was able to double South Carolina’s lead. She defeated No. 42 Florence Urrutia 6-3, 6-4 for her 16th dual singles win of the season.
The Wildcats were able to claim the next two points to tie things at two all with a pair of straight set wins at the No. 5 and 6 positions.
No. 22 Hamner was able to get the lead back for the Gamecocks at 3-2 with her win from the No. 2 position. She battled through two gritty tiebreak sets to defeat No. 118 Elizabeth Stevens 7-6(7), 7-6(6).
Kentucky tied things again with a win on Court 4 where sophomore Misa Malkin suffered her first SEC loss of the season. She claimed the first set 6-1, but dropped the next two 3-6 and 4-6.
The decision fell to Court 3 where fellow sophomore Gracie Mulville had split sets with her opponent. Mulville took the first 6-2, but Kentucky’s Ellie Eades took the second 6-1. It was a battle through the final set with a tiebreaker being needed for the decision.
Eades jumped out to an early lead 5-1 and the deficit proved too much for Mulville to overcome with Eades taking the final set 7-6(3).
The women’s tennis team will return home to await a bid at the NCAA Tournament.
For all the latest South Carolina women’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
#57 Kentucky 4, #30 South Carolina 3
Doubles (order of finish: 3, 2, 1)
- #38 Ayana Akli/Sarah Hamner (SC) def. #22 Carlota Molina/Elizabeth Stevens (UK) 6-4
- Ellie Eades/Florence Urrutia (UK) def. Gracie Mulville/Alice Otis (SC) 6-1
- Ana Cruz/Allie Gretkowski (SC) def. Lidia Gonzalez/Zoe Hammond (UK) 6-1
Singles (order of finish: 1, 5, 6, 2, 4, 3)
- #9 Ayana Akli (SC) def. #42 Florence Urrutia (UK) 6-3, 6-4
- #22 Sarah Hamner (SC) def. #118…