No. 28 Alabama took down Kentucky 4-3 in its SEC home opener, and “Power of Pink” match day for breast cancer awareness, Thursday night. The team came into the match 9-0 overall and 1-0 in SEC play after defeating Mississippi State 4-1 on Sunday.
Alabama junior Kristina Paskauskas and freshman Karla Bartel took down Kentucky duo Julia Zhu and Zoe Hammond 6-2. The third doubles match saw Alabama freshmen Amina Salibayeva and Addison Bowman fall to Ellie Meyers and Marina Fuduric 6-1.
The doubles point came down to a battle in the second doubles match, where seniors Klara Millicevic and Maria Andrienko of Alabama faced up against the pair of Asuncion Jadue and Reese Sager from Kentucky. The game was back and forth with Alabama’s duo forcing a 10-point tiebreaker set, where they eventually fell 7-3, moving the match loss to 7-6.
All six singles matches started as planned, but lightning was detected in the area. Matches were paused and eventually moved indoors to the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility. Teams were given a chance to adapt to the new courts before the meet carried on.
Hammond of Kentucky overtook Alabama’s Millicevic in two straight 6-1 sets in the No. 2 matchup. Hammond was dominant in the matchup, with her on-the-court aggressiveness overwhelming Millicevic and extending Kentucky’s lead on the night to 0-2.
Bartel got the first point for Alabama, defeating Kentucky’s Jadue with ease in the No. 4 singles matchup. Bartel took the first set 6-2 before taking the second set by storm at 6-1, moving the match score to 1-2.
Kentucky extended its lead to 1-3 after Paskauskas fell to Zhu in the No. 1 singles match in straight sets, 7-6 and 6-1. Paskauskas looked frustrated and couldn’t get any momentum going within the match.
Alabama wasn’t out yet though, as a three-set match happened in the No. 6 singles match. The Crimson Tide’s Salibayeva fell 7-5 in the first set against Donna Le Roux of Kentucky, before she stormed back and took sets two and three, 6-2 and 6-0, respectively. The wins brought the meet score to 2-3.
The comeback for the Crimson Tide continued in the No. 3 singles match as Kentucky’s Sager and Alabama’s Andrienko battled it out from the baselines. Andrienko took the first set 6-2, before falling in the second set 4-6. Andrienko continued to win the third set 6-2, taking the match and tying the meet score at 3-3.
The night all came down to the No. 5 singles match between Bowman and Kentucky’s Elena Molla. The two battled it out in the first set, with Bowman taking the advantage in the tiebreaker and winning the set 7-6. The match slowed in Set 2, with both players giving up points to far lobs and Molla taking it 6-3.
The third set was a nail-biter, with the two exchanging games up until the fifth of the set, when Bowman pulled ahead and took the final set of the night 6-2.
“I was very proud of her, because it’s not an easy thing to do. We’ve had these moments in the past, and we’ve had juniors and seniors not being able to execute,” said Alabama head coach Jonatan Berhane. “To see this from a freshman in a deciding match, she’s so resilient, so tough, and I’m very proud of her.”
This match win secured the final point of the night for the Crimson Tide, moving the team to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in SEC play.
The Crimson Tide will take on No. 14 Tennessee at home on Saturday at 1 p.m. Berhane is confident that his players will continue their successes into the weekend.
“Even against Tennessee, if doubles doesn’t go our way, I know that we have six players, and singles are going to play hard,” Berhane said. “We have six points to play for.”
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