Wildcats Prepped for ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Atlanta
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 20 Kentucky women’s tennis team will head to Atlanta on Saturday to take on
No. 25 UCLA as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend’s
Atlanta Regional. The Wildcats are guaranteed two matches in the event, and
will face either No. 11 Georgia Tech or Penn on Sunday.
Kentucky was
pegged the No. 2 seed in the tournament behind host-school No. 11 Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets will play in the first match of the regional, taking on No.
4 seed Penn at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday. UK’s match is scheduled for a 2 p.m.
start time.
The winners
of each matchup will advance to Sunday’s championship match at 1 p.m., while
the consolation match will begin at 10 a.m. the same day.
The Wildcats have
begun their dual season 3-0, racking up victories over Marshall, Eastern Kentucky
and Miami (Ohio).
Kentucky
boasts the No. 1 doubles pair in the nation in senior Aldila Sutjiadi and
junior Mami Adachi. They begin 2017 as the top-ranked pair after winning their
first national title at the UTSA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor
Championships on Nov. 22. The veteran tandem have yet to drop a match this
spring season.
Individually,
Sutjiadi holds down the No. 12 singles spot after putting together an 8-2
record in the fall season and winning the singles title at the 2016 Ohio Valley
Regional Championships.
Sophomore Akvile Paražinskaite opens the spring
campaign at No. 74 in the national standings. Paražinskaite earned her first victory over a ranked opponent
in the season opener, taking down No. 94 Maddie Silver in a 6-2, 6-4 decision.
All admission
to the weekend’s events inside the Ken Byers Tennis Complex will be
free.
SCOUTING UCLA
The Bruins own a 1-0 overall record after downing Loyola Marymount 5-2
in its season opener. UCLA’s roster features the No. 4 singles player in the country
in freshman Ena Shibahara. Shibahara also teams up with redshirt-freshman Jada
Hart to form the 9th-ranked doubles team.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program,
follow @UKWomensTennis
on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKWomensTennis
and on the web at UKathletics.com.
