The No. 12 Kentucky women?s tennis team will begin play Thursday against two-time defending champion and current No. 1 Stanford at USTA-ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships. The Cats match against the Cardinal is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EST at the University of Wisconsin’s A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The NWTIC is renowned for being the premier indoor team tournament in collegiate tennis. The tournament began in 1988 and each season brings together a field of some of the nation?s finest teams. This is the 19th straight year it is being hosted by Wisconsin.
In the first round this year, Kentucky will be facing a familiar opponent in Stanford (2-0). Last season, UK reached the finals of the NWTIC for the first time in school history and was beaten by the Cardinal 4-0.
The Wildcats (5-0, 0-0 SEC) will enter Thursday?s match with momentum on their side after beating two ranked teams in Maryland and Texas A&M this past weekend.
Junior Lara Maurer enters the NWTIC on a roll winning the first five matches of her dual match season including the clinching match against TAMU?s Anna Blagodarova, the nation?s 51st-ranked player.
For the Cats to be at their best, they will also need juniors Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk to continue to be strong performers. Coventry, the nation?s 53rd-ranked player, was a key part of last year?s successful run in Wisconsin winning the clinching point against then No. 8 Duke.
Schwenk has been a constant for the Cats at the No. 2 spot in the lineup and was the No. 118 player in the preseason rankings. The Coconut Creek, Fla., native also teams with Coventry to be the 18th-ranked doubles tandem.
Stanford comes into the match up with three singles players ranked in the top-10. Anne Yealsey is ranked No. 2, Alice Barnes comes in as the 4th-ranked player and Theresa Logar rounds out the trio as the No. 10 player.
?As always the National Indoors Championships has put together a great field,? head coach Carlos Drada said. ?We need to be focused and take it one match at a time. We look forward to going out tomorrow and competing.?
Fans can check ukathletics.com for live stats a complete recap of day?s action.
