May 3, 2001

The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team will face the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday, May 12, in the opening round of the 2001 NCAA Championships in Chicago, Ill. The 24th-ranked Wildcats (13-10) received their at-large today from the NCAA selection committee.

The Cats are making their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and are coming off a strong showing at the Southeastern Conference Championships where they nearly upset 4th-ranked Vanderbilt. Virginia is currently the nation’s 42nd-ranked team and finished the season with a 15-10 record. Northwestern and Illinois-Chicago will compete in the other regional matchup with the winners squaring off on May 13, for a trip to the Sweet 16 in Stone Mountain, Ga.

Three Wildcats also earned spots as individuals in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship. Junior Carolina Mayorga received one of 64 bids to the Singles Championships, while senior Brooke Skeen and junior Lauren Rookledge claimed one of 32 spots in the Doubles Championships. Mayorga and partner sophomore Sarah Witten were slotted as the first alternate for the championships and will compete in the case of a withdrawal. The individual championships will take place May 17-25 in Stone Mountain.

“We are excited to have made the field as a team for the fifth straight year and also happy for the individuals who received bids,” Coach Mark Guilbeau said. “The most exciting aspect is that we are in a situation with a group of eight players, a coaching staff and an entire tennis program that has a tremendous amount of energy, enthusiasm and desire. We are currently playing the best tennis we have played all year. The team has survived some challenging losses, yet we never lost sight of our goal to get to the round of 16. We need to take it one step at a time, but I feel we have a good chance to accomplish that goal.”