No. 22 UK Women’s Tennis Hosts Nation’s Fifth-Best Team on Friday
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 22 University of Kentucky women’s tennis team will host the fifth-best team in the nation on Friday, as the 2018 NCAA National Runners-Up in Vanderbilt travel to Lexington, Kentucky, for a 5 p.m. first serve at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center.
Fans who wish to attend will enjoy free Kentucky tennis t-shirts, and free parking is available in any of the three E-lots adjacent to the tennis courts on the University of Kentucky campus one hour prior to the start of the matches. Parking structure No. 7 is also a free option for spectators after 3 p.m.
Following a touted weekend at home that included defeating Florida for the first time since 2009, UK is 15-4 overall (Southeastern Conference 5-3). The Commodores lead the Wildcats in the all-time series, 19-31. UK last defeated Vanderbilt just two seasons ago in 2017, reporting a 4-2 outcome in Lexington.
The Commodores boast an impressive five players in the ITA/Oracle Top 125 National Singles Rankings, including two players in the top 15. Senior Fernanda Contreras checks in at No. 6, while junior Christina Rosca fills the 13th slot. Perhaps even more notable, the program has four doubles pairs ranked in the ITA/Oracle Top 80 National Doubles Rankings. Fernanda Contreras and Summer Dvorak claim the Commodores’ best ranking, No. 37. Identical to UK’s best doubles team, the pair has won six straight matches.
For Kentucky, doubles pair senior Justina Mikulskyte and redshirt-junior Akvile Paražinskaite reached No. 14 in the latest poll. The duo rides a six-match win streak and have won nine of their last 10 doubles matches. Together, Mikulskyte and Paražinskaite have never dropped a match to ranked opponents, boasting a 6-0 mark in that column. The upperclassmen duo is 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference. On Sunday against South Carolina, the twosome defeated the best-ranked doubles pair in the nation in a 6-3 outcome. In the process, they helped UK earn its first doubles point in its prior four dual matches.
In singles, Mikulskyte went 2-0 last weekend. Ranked 35th in the nation, the Lithuania native upset No. 16 Ida Jarlskog of Florida and No. 7 Gamarra martins of South Carolina. Meanwhile, each of her singles victories last weekend have come in two sets apiece. Mikulskyte is 6-1 against nationally-ranked opponents in singles.
The contest is scheduled to happen on the outdoor courts, however the forecast projects rain and in that case the match will be moved indoors.
Live scoring for Friday can be followed at sidearmstats.com/ukentucky/tennis/xlive.htm.
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.
