On the strength of outstanding initial seasons of NCAA tennis, Kentucky senior Aibika Kalsarieva and sophomore Sarah Foster have earned a preseason top-five doubles ranking and top-35 singles rankings from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Foster and Kalsarieva finished the 2004 campaign with a No. 21 doubles ranking and now enter the fall season with a No. 3 doubles ranking. The pair amassed a 24-11 record a season ago and earned a bid into the NCAA Doubles Championships, where they were defeated by Michigan?s Michelle DaCosta and Kate Delicata.
In the spring, Kalsarieva became the first Kentucky women?s tennis player to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women?s Singles Championships. She wrapped up her first season of NCAA tennis with a No. 15 singles ranking and 40-14 record after playing her first two seasons at Lewis-Clark State of the NAIA. She enters the fall with the ITA?s No. 9 ranking in women?s singles.
Foster also qualified for the NCAA Women?s Singles Championships and totaled a 30-14 freshman season. She became the second Wildcat in as many seasons to be named the SEC Freshman of the Year and the ITA Southeast Region Rookie of the Year. She enters the fall with a No. 32 singles ranking after ending the spring ranked No. 48.
Foster, Kalsarieva and the rest of the Wildcats begin the fall slate this Friday at the Florida Fall Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.