The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team advanced three more players into the main draw of the Rolex SoutheastRegional Championships on Thursday, Nov. 2, in Winston-Salem, N.C. All eight Tennis Cats are among the 64 to take part in themain draw.

Sophomores Leigh Bradwell, Jill Buckley and Shannon Stafford all won two matches in the qualifying round to earn three ofonly eight spots into the final round of 64.

Bradwell defeated Melisa San Martin of Louisville 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the opening round and then bested Loni Worsley of NorthCarolina State 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 to move on. Buckley rolled through her first two rounds without dropping a set to advance, defeatingNasria Mirnova of Tennessee Tech 6-3, 6-1 and Carlin Kannan of UNC-Greensboro 6-1, 6-0. Stafford also breezed through herqualifying matches in impressive fashion, cruising by Kelli Williams of Eastern Kentucky 6-2, 6-1, before topping Ashlee Bowen ofClemson 6-0, 6-1 to claim a spot in the main draw.

Bradwell, Buckley and Stafford will now meet up with fellow Wildcats Brooke Skeen, Lauren Rookledge, Carolina Mayorga,Sarah Witten and Amy Trefethen who received automatic bids into the main draw of the tournament.

Action continues Friday at 9 a.m. with all eight Wildcats returning to the courts.