UK Doubles Upsets #12 OSU in NCAA Championship Opener
May 21, 2015
Updated NCAA Doubles Bracket | Championship Central
WACO, Texas -The No. 25 University of Kentucky women’s tennis doubles pair of Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi opened the NCAA Championships with a 6-2, 6-3 upset win over No. 12 Oklahoma State in the first round on Thursday evening.
In their NCAA Championships debut, Adachi, a freshman, and Sutjiadi, a sophomore, scored a first round victory to advance to the Round of 16 at Baylor’s Hurd Tennis Center. The duo became the first UK doubles team to advance to the Round of 16 since 2009 and the sixth in program history.
“I’m so happy for our win today,” Sutjiadi said. “It’s been a long time since we played well together and today was really a good start for us.”
“I really enjoyed the match today, that was fun,” Adachi added. “Aldila and I were both very positive and she’s fun to play with. We’re looking forward to another good match tomorrow.”
Adachi and Sutjiadi meet No. 5 Klara Fabikova/Zsofi Susanyi of California Friday at 3 p.m. ET for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Live results and video on Friday, along with complete tournament information can be found on Championship Central at BaylorBears.com. Results and additional notes and updates will be available on Twitter at @UKWomensTennis.
“It is great for the coaching staff to see our students’ hard work pay off,” UK head coach Carlos Drada said. “I am grateful to see that both Aldila and Mami played with a lot of poise and focus today. We hope to maintain that same mindset throughout the rest of the tournament.”
UK earned the 6-2, 6-3 win in the first round over OSU’s Kelsey Laurente and Viktoriya Lushkova thanks to a strong run to close each set. Adachi and Sutjiadi closed the first set on a 4-0 run before they won the final three games in the final set to clinch the match.
In the opening set, Kentucky and Oklahoma State traded the first four games. With the score tied at 2-2, Adachi and Sutjiadi teared through the next four games to claim the set, 6-2.
It was more of the same in the second set, as the Wildcats and Cowgirls traded the first six games before Adachi and Sutjiadi won the final three games. That gave the first-time NCAA Championship qualifiers the 6-3 win to secure the victory.
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.
