UK Women’s Tennis Faces First Road Test at Notre Dame on Friday
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a perfect 3-0 start at home to open the 2022 season, the University of Kentucky women’s tennis team will face its first road test on Friday, Jan. 21 against Notre Dame. The match is set for 4 p.m. ET inside the Courtney Tennis Center in South Bend, Indiana.
The Wildcats kicked off the season in thrilling fashion with a doubleheader against East Tennessee State on Jan. 14, besting the Bucs in back-to-back 4-3 decisions. Kentucky was then home again on Jan. 16 to top Miami Ohio, 5-2.
Fiona Arrese and Florencia Urrutia both enter Friday’s contest with a 3-0 mark in singles action following individual wins against the Bucs and RedHawks. The duo also teamed up for a pair of doubles victories during opening weekend.
The team’s two freshmen in Lidia Gonzalez and Ellie Eades have shown up big in their Wildcat debuts. Gonzalez secured a singles point in the second match with ETSU to even the score, while Eades survived a grueling battle to clinch the match point. They both picked up singles wins against the RedHawks as well, with Gonzalez earning the clinch.
UK posted a 16-9 overall mark with a 6-7 record in the Southeastern Conference during the 2021 campaign. Last season was one for the record books, as Arrese and Akvile Paražinskaite earned the No. 1 seed in the doubles draw for the NCAA Championships. The duo were the first Wildcats to be ranked No. 1 since 2016 and the first with Carlos Drada the helm.
The 2021-22 season marks Drada’s 17th year as head coach and his 21st season overall in Lexington. Prior to the start of the fall season, the team welcomed Brad Merchant as the assistant coach. No stranger to UK, Merchant had served as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for Kentucky men’s basketball since 2019 and was the volunteer assistant for the women’s tennis team during the 2016-17 season.
Kentucky and Notre Dame last faced each other on Feb. 6, 2021 in Lexington where the Wildcats downed the Fighting Irish, 6-1. That win marked the first time UK concluded its nonconference schedule without dropping a dual match since 2009.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
