Top-20 Matchup Slated for Saturday Between Wildcats and Gamecocks
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 19 Kentucky women’s tennis team continues life on the road in competition with some of the strongest teams in the nation, as the Southeastern Conference has the most teams ranked in the top-25 of the Oracle/ITA Division I Women’s National Rankings with eight programs holding a highly-ranked spot. South Carolina will be the third consecutive team that Kentucky will face that is among the seven other SEC schools ranked in the top-25 nationally. The Wildcats will square off with the No. 12 Gamecocks on Saturday, traveling to Columbia, S.C. for a 1 p.m. ET start.
Overall, Kentucky is 11-3 on the year with its only three losses coming against a top-20 opponent. Headlining the Wildcat lineup is the duo of Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi, who are ranked as the No. 5 doubles team in the country after bursting onto the national scene with a preseason top-10 ranking for the first time in their careers. Sutjiadi is also ranked in singles, sitting at No. 42 after jumping up more than 50 spots from the latest singles rankings.
Despite a setback at No. 18 Florida yesterday, the Wildcats showcased their talent in doubles to start the match and deprive the Gators of the opening point for just the second time this season. Kentucky’s No. 1 duo of Adachi and Sutjiadi handily downed the No. 7 pairing in the nation of Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan, 6-1, for their first top-10 win of the championship season. UK’s No. 2 doubles team of Morgan Chumney and Akvile Paražinskaite secured the first point for the Wildcats with their first ranked win of the year, taking down No. 22 Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock, 6-4.
South Carolina has had a successful start to the 2016 campaign, posting an 11-2 record that includes an unblemished 3-0 mark in SEC play. Most recently, the Gamecocks upset No. 5 Vanderbilt in a 4-3 decision, aided by taking the doubles point along with No. 109 Caroline Dailey’s takedown of No. 24 Sydney Campbell in No. 1 singles. The win was Dailey’s first in the No. 1 spot for the Gamecocks, having lost her first three matches as the team’s top player after moving up from the No. 2 spot. Also ranked in singles is No. 110 Paige Cline, who has most recently moved to No. 3 singles after starting the year switching between No. 1 and 2. Cline is also on the Gamecocks’ ranked doubles pairing along with Hadley Berg. The No. 54-ranked duo has a flawless 7-0 record with two wins over top-75 opponents.
Live stats for Sunday’s match will be available here.
Visit UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information on the Kentucky women’s tennis team and all 22 varsity sports. For additional info, notes, and behind-the-scenes updates, follow the team on Twitter at @UKWomensTennis and on Facebook.
