Adachi and Sutjiadi Tabbed as No. 2 Overall Seed in NCAA Doubles Championship; Sutjiadi Earns At-Large Bid in Singles

INDIANAPOLIS – Kentucky women’s tennis players earned bids in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, the NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Subcommittee announced. The top-ranked doubles team in the nation of Aldila Sutjiadi and Mami Adachi has earned the No. 2 overall seed in the doubles tournament field of 32, while Sutjiadi will appear in singles as an at-large bid in the field of 64.

The singles and doubles competition will be held May 25-30 at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., following the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 19-24.

With their top-eight seeding in the NCAA Doubles Championship, Adachi and Sutjiadi have locked down ITA All-America honors and will be the first Kentucky All-Americans since Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk took home the honors in 2007. In order to earn the distinction, a doubles team must meet any of the criteria including: a top-eight seed in the tournament, reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament, or finishing in the Top 10 of the final Oracle/ITA National Doubles Rankings.  Though not a top 16 seed in the tournament, Sutjiadi also has a chance to make All-America in singles should she reach the Round of 16 in the tournament or finish in the Top 20 of the final Oracle/ITA National Singles Rankings.

Adachi and Sutjiadi have had a dominant year in just their first complete season as Kentucky’s top doubles team, posting a 15-2 record overall and going undefeated in Southeastern Conference play with an 11-0 mark.  The duo finished as the national runner-up in both the Oracle/ITA Masters and the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships during the fall, and has been on a 15-match winning streak after a rocky start to the spring season in which the tandem fell to both Dartmouth and Michigan’s top pairings at the ITA Regional Kickoff. Adachi and Sutjiadi have been ranked in the top five of the Oracle/ITA rankings in each of the weeks this year, and were ranked No. 1 in five of the 11 rankings.

 

Additionally, Sutjiadi had a successful season as an individual performer for the Wildcats, and became the first UK player since Schwenk in 2006 to be named to the All-SEC First Team. The junior is ranked No. 29 in the nation in singles, sporting a 16-5 record primarily in the No. 2 singles spot with an 8-4 mark in SEC action.  Over the course of the season, Sutjiadi has had multiple ranked upsets over her opponents, including then-No. 23 Astra Sharma of Vanderbilt and then-No. 22 Joana Vale Costa of LSU, both in straight sets.  

Before the two head to Tulsa as individuals, they will compete with the rest of the Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Championship team tournament.  UK earned a No. 2 seed and will take on No. 3 seed Xavier on Friday, May 13 at 10 a.m. ET in Ann Arbor, Mich.  The winner of the match will then face the winner of the No. 1 Michigan-No. 4 Ball State match in the second round on Saturday at 1 p.m.  Saturday’s winner will advance to Tulsa for the Round of 16.

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.