Wildcats Headed to ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Six Wildcats will travel to Murfreesboro, Tennessee this weekend to compete at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships presented by Oracle. Senior Aldila Sutjiadi, juniors Mami Adachi and Emily Fanning, sophomores Justina Mikulskyte and Akvile Parazinskaite and freshman Lesedi Jacobs are set for main draw matchups in both singles and doubles.

Hosted by Middle Tennessee State University, the tournament began Thursday with qualifying rounds. Main draw singles matches are slated to begin Friday at 9 a.m., while doubles are scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start. The competition will culminate with championship rounds on Monday, Oct. 24.

The No. 1 preseason ranked duo of Adachi/Sutjiadi will face off against Miami (Ohio)’s Anzhelika Shapovaolva/Andreea Badileanu in a first-round doubles match. The UK pair has already seen great success throughout the fall season, capturing a title in the ITA All-American Championships consolation doubles draw to secure a spot in the UTSA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships next month.

Also in the first-round doubles main draw, UK’s Fanning/Parazinskaite will take on Ball State’s Carmen Blanco/Toni Ormond, while Kentucky’s third tandem of Mikulskyte/Jacobs will face East Tennessee State’s Marina Espana/Ioanna Markesini.

Individually, Sutjiadi earned the No. 2 seed in the singles main draw and will go head-to-head with Murray State’s Jui Yun Chang at 11 a.m. Friday. Jacobs will face Middle Tennessee State’s Alory Pereira, Adachi will square off against Western Kentucky’s Elpida Malamou and Parazinskaite will face Southeast Missouri State’s Kseniya Zonova. Mikulskyte and Fanning will both face undetermined opponents from Thursday’s qualifying rounds. 

A chance to join Adachi/Sutjiadi at the UTSA/ITA Indoor Championships will be on the line, as earning a title in the weekend’s tournament will ensure an automatic bid to the event. The Indoor Championships, held at the Billie Jean National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York, serves as the final major tournament of the fall season.