Road Swing Resumes: UK Will Compete in First Top 25 Dual Match of Season
BATON ROUGE, La. – For the first time this season the UK women’s tennis team will contend in a top-25 dual match, as No. 21 Kentucky will meet No. 19 LSU in a 5 p.m. first serve under the Friday night lights of the LSU Tennis Complex.
UK has seen five top-50 opponents this season, none of which ranked in the top 25. In the five ranked dual matches, the Wildcats boast a 5-0 record. In their best-ranked win this season, UK defeated then-No. 36 Auburn on March 10 by a 4 to 1 decision. It was UK’s second win over Auburn this season.
LSU is 12-4 overall, forming a 2-2 mark in conference play. The conference foe is unbeaten in 10 home matches and 1-3 against ranked opponents.
Eden Richardson leads LSU in singles with an 8-3 record in dual matches. She is fifth-best singles player in the conference, No. 15 in the nation, while riding a six-match win streak. In the Southeastern Conference, she is undefeated in three matches.
The squad also has the third-best doubles pair in the nation in Jessica Golovin and Eden Richardson. The Tiger duo is 9-2 in dual matches, but 2-1 in the conference after dropping a match to Tennessee on March 10.
LSU leads UK in all-time meetings by a small margin, 18-20.
Kentucky, who has been a top-50 team in 11 straight matches, claim a 13-2 record. Winning three-of-four dual matches in the conference, UK has only dropped three doubles points this season and boast a 28-8 (.778) record in the doubles division.
No. 55 Justina Mikulskyte and Akvile Paražinskaite are 8-3 on court one, including 3-0 against nationally ranked opponents. The upperclassmen duo are on a three-match win streak.
Forming a remarkable 11-1 record on doubles court two is No. 75 Tiphanie Fiquet and Lesedi Jacobs. The twosome shaped a 10-0 record to start the season, before dropping a 4-6 match at Alabama.
Senior Mikulskyte also has earned high marks on the singles court, UK’s consistent No. 1 player. The Lithuania native is No. 48 in the national polls, and she is 8-2 in dual matches, including a 2-1 mark in the conference. Mikulskyte is 3-1 over ranked opponents.
UK has formed an even better note on the singles court since the regular season began in January, forming a 61-13 (.824) record. Five of those losses were by conference opponents.
LSU will provide live scoring and live streaming on Friday.
For more on Kentucky women’s tennis, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, Kentucky Women’s Tennis on Facebook, or on the web at UKathletics.com.
