No. 24 UK Women’s Tennis Faces Unbeaten No. 2 Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 24 University of Kentucky women’s tennis team will face a pair of strong programs in its final weekend of the regular season, on the road, ahead of the Southeastern Conference Championship next week. On Friday, the Wildcats are set to compete against the second-best program in the nation in Georgia, for a 4 p.m. first serve.
Riding the coattails of a pair of home victories last weekend to culminate the home schedule on a 12-2 (.857) mark – the program’s best winning percentage at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center in over a decade – the UK women’s tennis team awaits its toughest opponent on the schedule this season. No. 2 Georgia is unbeaten in 19 matches, boasting a perfect 11-0 mark in the league. The Bulldogs are the only unbeaten team in the SEC.
Finding comfort at the top of the league for the entirety of the conference schedule, the Bulldogs have five players ranked in the Oracle/ITA Top 125 National Singles Rankings, including the No. 1 player in the nation in Katarina Jokic. Georgia also boasts two doubles teams in the national polls, No. 74 Eleni Christofi and Vivian Wolff and No. 83 Katarina Jokic and Meg Kowalski. The Bulldogs have won the doubles point in six straight dual matches.
Kentucky is 8-3 against nationally-ranked teams this season, including one upset at then-No. 19 LSU. The program – 17-5 overall and 7-4 in the league – has been ranked in the ITA/Oracle National Team Rankings for 18 straight dual matches, having reached as high as No. 18 and as low as No. 32. Holding the 24th spot in the nation currently, two Wildcats have earned national recognition all season long.
Senior Justina Mikulskyte is the 15th-best player in the nation, having accumulated a 13-4 mark overall and a 7-3 mark in the league. The SEC Player of the Week announced on Wednesday, she is 7-2 against nationally-ranked opponents and rides a two-match win streak. Mikulskyte paired with redshirt-junior Akvile Paražinskaite makeup the 17th-ranked doubles team. Helping UK to a doubles point against Mississippi State on Sunday vs. a 57th-ranked duo, the upperclassmen pair boast a spotless record against nationally-ranked doubles team (7-0).
UK will look to defeat Georgia for the first time in 13 straight matches, since 2006. That year, the Wildcats crafted an 8-3 mark in the league and reached the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16.
Live streaming and scoring will be available here.
The program will then travel to Knoxville, Tennessee, to end its regular season at No. 18 Tennessee at 1 p.m. on Sunday. UK won’t rest long thereafter, as it travels to College Station, Texas, for the SEC Championship April 17-21.
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