No. 12 Kentucky Hosts 2025 ITA Kickoff Weekend
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the third consecutive season, the ITA Kickoff Weekend will make a stop at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, as the 12th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats welcome No. 20 Arizona State, Nebraska, and Santa Clara to the bluegrass for a two-day, four-match tournament.
Action will begin with first round matches on Friday, January 24 when Kentucky and Santa Clara will play at 1 p.m. ET and Arizona State and Nebraska will dual at 5 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s slate will begin with a consolation match between the two first round losers at Noon ET and the weekend will conclude with the regional championship match at 4 p.m. ET. At stake on Saturday afternoon is a berth to the 2025 ITA Indoor National Championships that will take place in Dallas and Waco, Texas next month.
Introduced in 2009, the Cats are venturing on their ninth time hosting the unofficial commencement of the college tennis season, with Kentucky advancing out of its home regional in five of the previous eight occasions. Overall, Kentucky has made 23 appearances at the ITA Indoor Nationals.
Kentucky enters the weekend with a 2-1 record on the season following opening day sweeps over NKU and Xavier and a tough 5-2 loss at No. 23 Michigan State. Jack Loutit and Eli Stephenson are undefeated in singles through the first week of the season, with Loutit picking up a ranked win over No. 40 Matthew Forbes in his last match. All-SEC athletes Jaden Weekes and Charlelie Cosnet also factor heavily in the Wildcat lineup, which was strengthened when the ITA’s No. 1 ranked newcomer—Antoine Ghibaudo—made his collegiate debut last weekend.
Santa Clara enters their first-round match against the Cats at 1-1 on the 2025 season, defeating Sacramento State in their season opener before being swept by Oregon in a match in Eugene. The Broncos are coming off a successful 2024 season in which they recorded the most team wins since 2012, peaked at No. 53 in the ITA rankings, and saw Head Coach Niall Angus win the Wilson/ITA Northwest Region Coach of the Year Award. SCU earned a bid to the UTR Sports NIT Championship last season, defeating Northwestern before falling to eventual champion Tulsa.
The Sun Devils–the regional No. 2 seed–enter the weekend with a 2-1 record after falling to No. 1 Texas on Sunday. ASU won the doubles point but dropped all six singles courts. Senior All-American Murphy Cassone stands out amongst the rest of his team, as he is currently ranked No. 306 in the ATP Rankings and won the 2024 Calgary Challenger. However, he has yet to play a collegiate match this season. The Sun Devils won the Starkville Regional at the 2024 ITA Kickoff Weekend and advanced to the ITA Indoor Nationals in New York. In the 2024 NCAA Tournament, ASU defeated Georgia in the First Round before falling to [6] Wake Forest in a 4-3 Second Round decision.
Nebraska–the regional No. 3 seed–is the only team to enter the Lexington Regional with an undefeated record, owning sweeps over Drake and Bellarmine. Head Coach Peter Kobelt–who was formerly a volunteer assistant at Kentucky–led the Huskers to a 17-10 record in 2024, which was the best season by a first-year coach in program history. Nebraska is led by Calvin Mueller, the 2023 Big Ten Singles Champion and an All-B1G First Team performer. Three Huskers were ranked in the ITA Preseason Singles Rankings, led by Mueller at No. 31, the highest ranking for a Cornhusker since 2010. Joan Torres Espinosa came in at No. 63 and Anton Shepp was slotted at No. 114; however, no Nebraska players enter the weekend in the rankings.
All home matches will be played at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex and admission is free to the public for all regular season contests. A live stream will be provided for all home matches on UKAthletics.com.
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
2025 ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND – LEXINGTON REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, January 24
Match 1: No. 7 Kentucky vs. Santa Clara – 1 p.m. ET
Match 2: No. 18 Arizona State vs. Nebraska – 5 p.m. ET
Saturday, January 25
Match 3: Consolation Match (Loser Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2) – Noon ET
Match 4: Championship Match (Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2) – 4 p.m. ET
