Strong Field Looms for UK Women’s Tennis at Regional Tournament
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Two weeks after opening the fall schedule with a pair of championship titles, the University of Kentucky women’s tennis team will compete in its third fall tournament of the season at the Ohio Valley Regional Championships in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Oct. 17-22.
Hosted by Middle Tennessee at the Adams Tennis Complex, the tournament will feature all 23 teams that make up the region, including Austin Peay, Belmont, Butler, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, East Tennessee State, Indiana, IUPUI, Kentucky, Lipscomb, Louisville, Memphis, Miami-OH, Middle Tennessee State, Northern Kentucky, Purdue, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee, Tennessee State, UT Martin, Wright State, Xavier and Vanderbilt.
Last season, Kentucky finished third in the end-of-season regional rankings, in the company of the lone three Southeastern Conference programs in the region – No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 2 Tennessee. In-state foe Louisville finished eighth in the region.
From a national perspective, those same three SEC teams earned rank in the end-of-season Oracle/International Tennis Federation Division I Women’s Top 50 rankings last season – No. 8 Vanderbilt, No. 22 Tennessee and No. 27 Kentucky.
Seven Wildcats will compete in Murfreesboro, including freshman Carlota Molina, sophomore Carla Girbau, junior Brianna Tulloch, redshirt junior Lesedi Jacobs, and seniors Anastasia Tkachenko, Diana Tkachenko and Akvile Paražinskaite.
Freshman Maialen Morante will travel but is not expected to compete.
The tournament includes “A” and “B” singles and doubles draws, for four draws total. The “A” singles draw will feature 128 players, while the top-32 seeded players earn a bye match in the first round. The “A” doubles draw will feature 64 doubles teams, while the top-16 seeded teams earn a bye match in the first round, too.
Six Wildcats have earned an “A” singles draw top-32 seed, with Jacobs leading the pack at No. 4. Tulloch is the No. 3 seed in the “B” singles draw.
All three of Kentucky’s doubles teams are in the “A” doubles draw and seeded in the top 16.
Players in the “A” singles draw have the opportunity to qualify for the ITA Fall Nationals, hosted on Nov. 7-11 in Newport Beach, California.
Kentucky has had recent success in the doubles draw at the regional tournament. In 2016, then-freshman Jacobs won the main doubles draw at the Ohio Valley Regional Championships paired with former Wildcat Justina Mikulskyte. In 2017, then-junior Paražinskaite won the doubles title paired with former Wildcat Mami Adachi. Both Kentucky duos earned bids to ITA Fall Nationals.
Live scoring will not be provided, though results will be available at UKathletics.com at the end of each competition day.
Next on the Schedule
Following the Ohio Valley Regional Championships, the UK women’s tennis team will return home to compete in the second annual Kentucky Invite on Nov. 1-3. Kentucky will host five other teams – DePaul, Miami, Penn State, Utah, Virginia Tech – for a hidden-dual format at Top Seed Tennis Club.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and on Instagram, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.
