UK Women’s Tennis Earns Seventh Straight NCAA Bid
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Making its seventh straight NCAA Championship appearance, the University of Kentucky women’s tennis team earned a spot in the Cal Regional hosted on the campus in Berkeley, California. The Wildcats will compete against Syracuse in the first round on May 7, at 1 p.m. ET at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
UK women’s tennis head coach Carlos Drada has now led 11 teams to the national tournament in his 16 seasons. This is the seventh straight appearance for the Wildcats after last season’s tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wildcats have had 26 NCAA Championship berths, recording a 22-26 overall record on the national stage.
The Wildcats are 15-8 this season and were 6-7 record in Southeastern Conference action. UK advanced to the SEC Championship quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Georgia.
Akvile Paražinskaite and Fiona Arrese comprise the nation’s top-ranked doubles tandem and earned All-SEC First Team honors in the process. The duo has amassed a 20-2 overall record on the season, including a 17-2 mark in dual competition. Kentucky’s top-rated squad was 11-1 in SEC play and has helped UK win 19 of 24 doubles points thus far. The pair was also 6-2 against nationally ranked competition this spring.
In singles action, Paražinskaite leads the way for the Wildcats. The graduate student from Vilnius, Lithuania, has occupied the No. 1 slot for UK all season. Paražinskaite is 16-6 on the year in dual matches with a 5-5 record against ranked foes.
Paražinskaite has ascended to No. 29 in the country with an overall record of 19-10 which includes fall action.
Carlota Molina is 12-7 during dual match competition and is 11-6 on court No. 2. Lesedi Jacobs is ranked in the top 100 of singles play and has earned a 9-5 mark in dual play.
Syracuse earned an at-large bid out of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Orange are 8-11 overall but own a victory over 11th-ranked Georgia Tech (4-3). Syracuse and UK have common opponents in Tennessee, Notre Dame and Marshall. The Wildcats captured wins in all three. Syracuse earned wins over Notre Dame and Marshall, but fell 4-3 to the Lady Vols.
Syracuse is ranked No. 45 by the Oracle/ITA Rankings. Victoria Kanapatskaya is the Orange’s top singles player with a 10-5 record and a No. 13 national ranking. Guzal Yusupova is tabbed the No. 122 player and owns a 4-8 mark. Kanapatskaya and Natalie Novotna comprise the nation’s No. 37 doubles tandem with a 7-8 clip, while Yusupova and Miranda Ramirez combine for a 5-5 record and a No. 86 ranking.
The Wildcats and Syracuse will matchup for the right to take on the winner of San Jose State (15-1) and the No. 16 overall seed in Cal (17-6).
The Bears earned the Pac-12’s automatic bid into the NCAA Championship after capturing the Pac-12 Championship title. Cal claimed a 4-2 win over top-seeded UCLA to win its first Pac-12 title since 2014. The Spartans downed San Diego State 4-1 to win the Mountain West Championship and earned its automatic bid.
North Carolina is the No. 1 overall seed and sits atop UK’s bracket. Also earning the top seeds are No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 UCLA.
The winner of each site advances to super-regional competition May 16 in Orlando at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
The NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships selections will be released at a later date.
2021 First and Second Round Schedule
Hellman Tennis Complex – Berkeley, California
First Round – Friday, May 7
Kentucky vs. Syracuse – 1 p.m. ET
No. 16 Cal vs. San Jose State – 4 p.m. ET
Second Round – Saturday, May 8
Winner match 1 vs. winner match 2 – 4 p.m. ET
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.
