Eli Stephenson, Mikael Arseneault Sweep SEC Weekly Awards
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Eli Stephenson and Mikael Arseneault swept the Southeastern Conference Men’s Tennis Weekly Awards for the third week of play in the 2026 season, the league announced Wednesday. Stephenson was named the SEC Player of the Week for the first time in his career while Arseneault was earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the first conference laurel of his career.
The Wildcats are coming off an undefeated weekend of playing, sweeping in-state rival Louisville and upsetting No. 15 Duke. The wins helped extend Kentucky’s home winning streak to 32 matches.
Against the Cardinals, Stephenson helped secure the double point for Kentucky, teaming up with Jack Loutit to take down No. 21 Matei Onofrei and Andre Steinbach. The All-American duo now owns three ranked wins this season and slotted in at No. 35 in the latest ITA Doubles Rankings.
Against Duke, Stephenson delivered his team-leading 16th singles win of the season, including an undefeated 5-0 record in dual matches. The junior posted a straight sets win over Duke’s Alexander Visser, recovering from a break deficit in set one and saving seven break points in his final two service games of the final set—with the decisive break sandwiched between the two holds.
In his five completed singles matches this spring, Stephenson has not dropped a set. The Louisville native currently ranks No. 20 in the latest ITA Singles Rankings, recently qualified for the 2025 NCAA Singles Championships, and owns eight ranked wins in 2025-26—four times the amount he won in his first two seasons combined.
Arseneault clinched both matches for the Wildcats last weekend, helping Kentucky move to 31-0 all-time against in-state rival Louisville and aiding the Cats to their second top 25 win of the season in a 4-2 upset over No. 15 Duke. Arseneault moved to 3-0 on the dual season, doing so in emphatic fashion—dropping only three games across four sets. The clinching victories were the first two of his young career.
Kentucky has swept the SEC Weekly Awards for the first time since February 7, 2024 when Taha Baadi won SEC Player of the Week honors and Stephenson was named SEC Freshman of the Week.
Kentucky will continue its season-long eight-match homestand this weekend, hosting Northern Kentucky for a doubleheader on Friday, February 6 and welcoming No. 25 Illinois for an ITA Kickoff Weekend rematch at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 8.
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