Kentucky Makes Second Stop on Fall Schedule at Bulldog Invitational
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team will make its second stop on the fall schedule this weekend, making the trip to Athens, Georgia, for the Bulldog Invitational October 23-25. The field of conference foes includes four eastern division opponents in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina.
The teams will play in a round-robin, hidden-dual format in both singles and doubles contests. The proposed schedule is as follows:
Friday, Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. ET – Georgia vs. Kentucky (doubles, followed by singles)
Saturday, Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. ET – South Carolina vs. Kentucky (doubles, followed by singles)
Sunday, Oct. 25 at 9 a.m. ET – Kentucky vs. Florida (doubles, followed by singles)
Live scoring and a live stream will be available here.
On August 27, the league established guidelines for the fall segment of the men’s and women’s tennis seasons. Teams may compete in up to three events beginning no earlier than October 1, and teams are limited to events involving league schools or non-conference teams from the school’s geographic region.
Making the trip this weekend are two newcomers and five returners, including Fiona Arrese, Carla Girbau, Lesedi Jacobs, Carlota Molina, Maialen Morante, Akvile Paražinskaite and Elizabeth Stevens. All but one player traveling this weekend competed in the fall opener in early October, while Arrese will be making her collegiate debut at the Bulldog Invitational.
The Wildcats returned all seven of its student-athletes from its short season in Spring 2020 and added five newcomers to the program, raising the roster total to 12 student-athletes. The additions — Salsa Aher, Arrese, Amanda Miller, Mina Obradovic and Stevens – represent four countries including India (1), Serbia (1), Spain (1) and United States (2).
Four student-athletes have returned for an additional season, including Jacobs, Anastasia Tkachenko, Diana Tkachenko and Paražinskaite – approved upon by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 public-health threat.
Jacobs ended last season performing at the peak of her career before it was cut short, going undefeated in the SEC. She put together a flawless 3-0 singles record and a spotless 4-0 doubles record in the conference, while competing against the league’s toughest competition on the No. 1 singles court. Even more impressive, Jacobs achieved a 21-2 doubles record through fall and spring action.
Combined with Paražinskaite, the tandem logged a successful fall resume in 2019, collecting two doubles championships and an automatic entry into the ITA Fall Nationals Main Doubles Draw. There, Jacobs and Paražinskaite reached the Round of 16 after defeating the No. 20-ranked pair in the nation, before falling to the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The returners shined in the first tournament of the season two weekends ago at the SEC Challenge, as Jacobs won two of three doubles matches, a team best, while Paražinskaite won two of three singles matches, also a team best.
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.
