The Official Website of the Southeastern Conference
The Official Website of the Southeastern Conference

LSU rallies to 4-3 victory over Kentucky

2814 days ago
LSU Athletics
Photo: LSU Athletics

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Freshman Jessica Golovin rallied to win in three sets on court two to lead the No. 20 LSU women's tennis to a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over No. 23 Kentucky in the second round of the SEC Women's Tennis Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex.

Golovin, ranked No. 59 in singles, defeated No. 75 Justina Mikulskyte, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, to clinch the victory and send the Lady Tigers into the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament.

"Kentucky gave us a heck of a match," co-head coach Julia Sell said. "That was an unbelievable finish. Jessica is a special story today because the girl she played is usually number one. To come back after losing the first set and pull it out is big for her and the team."

LSU moved to 18-10 for the season with the victory over the Wildcats. Under Sell, LSU has now reached the quarterfinal of the SEC Tournament for the third consecutive season.

After dropping the doubles point with losses on courts two and three, senior Ella Taylor squared the match at 1-1- with a convincing 6-0, 6-2 win on court six over Kate Lanier.

After Taylor's win to even the match, the Wildcats fired back with wins on court one over Joana Vale Costa and on court three over Ryann Foster.

Senior Skylar Kuykendall started the comeback for LSU on court four against Akvile Parazinskaite with a 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Junior Abby Owens became the 16th player in school history to reach the 30-win mark in a season after defeating Kristen Lewis on court five, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8). She joins teammates Vale Costa and Kuykendall who set the mark last season.

After Owens moved the match to 3-3 overall, Golovin clinched the quarterfinal round berth on court two.

LSU returns to action at 2 p.m. CT Friday against No. 1 seed and third-ranked Florida on the north courts of the LSU Tennis Complex.

"Florida went undefeated in our conference for a reason," Sell said. "They make you hit balls and they are the type of team that you have to beat because they won't give it to you. We had a really good battle the last time we played them and we'll have to take it up a notch tomorrow."