No. 25 Kentucky Opens NCAA Tournament Friday
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 25 Kentucky (17-13, 5-9 SEC) is set to begin the program’s 33rd NCAA Tournament run on Friday, taking on California (16-13, 6-7 ACC) in the First Round of the Columbus Regional 10 a.m. ET on May 1.
No. 3 Ohio State and Buffalo will play the other First Round match at 1 p.m. ET on Friday, with the two winners squaring off at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday in the Second Round. All matches at the Columbus Regional will be played outside at the Auer Tennis Complex, weather permitting. If the matches are forced indoors, they will be played at the neighboring Ty Tucker Tennis Center. Admission and parking is free to the public.
The Cats are making their 12th appearance in 13 possible championships under Head Coach Cedric Kauffmann, including each of the last ten. Kentucky has claimed victory in its opening match in every tournament since 2017. The Wildcats are featuring at the Columbus Regional for the third time in program history, joining a First Round appearance in 2016 and a Second Round berth in 2018.
Kentucky enters the tournament at No. 25 in the ITA Team Rankings after defeating Arkansas and falling to No. 12 Georgia in the SEC Tournament. The Cats have played half of the current top 25 teams this season and boast wins over No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 12 Georgia, No. 16 Michigan State, No. 22 Auburn, and No. 24 Vanderbilt.
In the ITA Singles Rankings, First Team All-SEC member Eli Stephenson leads the charge at No. 23. Joining him are Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman Team member Nicolas Arseneault at No. 59 and Jack Loutit at No. 82.
In the ITA Doubles Rankings, All-Americans Stephenson and Loutit check in at No. 16 while seniors Martin Breysach and Charlelie Cosnet feature at No. 85.
California enters Friday’s match at No. 42 in the latest ITA listings and defeated Georgia Tech and SMU in the ACC Tournament before falling to No. 4 Virginia in the quarterfinals. The Bears are led by Fryderyck Lechino Wasiutynski who slots at No. 62 in singles and Alexander Aney and Timofey Stepanov who feature at No. 30 in doubles.
Kentucky and Cal have met three times, with the Bears holding a 3-0 series advantage. Cal claimed a 5-1 victory in the programs’ last meeting in 1991.
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