March 7, 2013

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team will host Missouri on Friday at 4 p.m. at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex, the first home Southeastern Conference match of the year, before hosting Texas A&M on Sunday at noon.

The Wildcats recently moved up to No. 44 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s latest rankings, going 1-1 on the road in the opening weekend of SEC play. The Wildcats traveled to Arkansas on Friday, falling 4-3 to the No. 43 ranked Razorbacks.

Kentucky bounced back from its loss at Arkansas and won 4-3 at No. 71 LSU on Sunday. The Wildcats went down 3-1 at LSU but had the lead on the remaining three singles courts. Senior Jessica Stiles and sophomore Stephanie Fox recorded wins in straight sets to tie the match at 3-3 with the No. 5 singles point left to settle the match. After dropping the first set 6-1 and falling behind 5-1 in the second set, UK freshman Kirsten Lewis battled back to win the second set 7-5 before claiming the point with a 6-4 win in the third set.

Missouri, ranked 57th, is 6-3 overall and 0-2 in SEC play this spring. The Tigers opened SEC play last weekend with losses to No. 4 Florida and No. 43 South Carolina. Missouri is led by senior Maria Christensen, who boasts a 9-0 singles record in the spring, including a 2-0 record in SEC play.

Ranked No. 4 in the country, Texas A&M will face Vanderbilt on Friday before traveling to Lexington to face Kentucky on Sunday. In the first weekend of SEC action, the Aggies defeated South Carolina 5-2 and Florida 4-3. The Aggies are 8-1 on the year and 2-0 in SEC competition.

Live scoring of both matches will be available on UKwomenstennis.com.

Admission to the matches this weekend is free with free parking available in parking structure No. 7.