Women's Tennis
AKVILĖ PARAŽINSKAITĖ - Women's Tennis - University of Kentucky Athletics

AKVILĖPARAŽINSKAITĖ

  • height 5-9
  • class Redshirt Junior
  • Hometown Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Major Masters of Art in Diplomacy and International Commerce
  • High school Elektrenai Center of Vocational Training

Career Notes

  • 2021 All-America
  • 2021 ITA Scholar-Athlete
  • 2021 All-SEC First Team
  • 2021 No. 1 seed in NCAA Doubles Tournament (w/ Fiona Arrese)
  • 2021 NCAA Singles Championship qualifier
  • 2019, 2021 NCAA Doubles Championship qualifier
  • 2019 Ohio Valley Regional Doubles Champions (w/ Lesedi Jacobs)
  • 2019 Baylor Invite Main Doubles Draw Champions (w/ Lesedi Jacobs)
  • 2019 Fall Nationals Singles and Doubles qualifier
  • 2019 Frank G. Ham Society of Character selection
  • 2018, 2019 SEC Community Service Team selection
  • 2017 Ohio Valley Regional Doubles Champions (w/ Mami Adachi)
  • 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll

Fifth Year (2020-21)
Earned All-America honors after earning the No. 1 seed in the doubles draw along with teammate Fiona Arrese … Named to the All-SEC First Team along with Arrese, the first time since 1987 that UK has had two players tabbed to the first team by the league … Named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll … Paired with Arrese, amassed a 21-5 overall record on the season, including a 7-4 mark against ranked foes … Entered the NCAA Doubles Championships as the No. 1 overall seed, the first duo to have such ranking under head coach Carlos Drada … Led the way for the Wildcats in singles competition, occupying the No. 1 slot for UK all season … Went 17-8 in singles dual matches, including 5-5 against ranked foes … Defeated No. 24 Wake Forest’s Brooke Killingsworth and Anna Brylin 5-7, 6-3, 10-4 in the opening round of the NCAA Doubles Championships with Arrese before falling to No. 59 UCLA in the Round of 16 … Made her single draws debut at the NCAA Championships, falling to North Carolina’s Alexa Graham 6-1, 6-0 in the opening round … Took down No. 31 Haley Giavara of Cal 6-4, 6-2 in the NCAA Second Round after suffering a 7-5, 6-3 loss to No. 11 Victoria Kanapataskaya of Syracuse in the First Round … Combined with Arrese to defeat No. 20 Alexa Bortles and Anna Vrbenska of Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Tournament before falling to No. 8 Katrina Jokic and Ariana Arsenault of Georgia in the SEC Quarterfinals … Defeated No. 26 Sabina Machalova in singles competition in the SEC Tournament Second Round.
 

Singles Doubles
Dual 17-8 Dual 21-5
Tour 0-0 Tour 0-0
Conf 7-6 Conf 11-1
Overall 17-8 Overall 21-5

 

R-Senior (2019-20)
Put together a 5-2 singles record and a 10-1 doubles record during fall action … Paired with Lesedi Jacobs all fall, the duo won the main doubles draw at the Baylor Invite and the Ohio Valley Regional Championships, earning a bid to the 2019 ITA Fall Nationals … It marked her second Ohio Valley Regional Doubles Championship in her career … The pair went on a 9-0 run together before entering the Fall Nationals … The duo defeated their opponents in the first round (Round of 32) at Fall Nationals, taking down No. 20-ranked Alexa Graham and Sara Daavettila of UNC (7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), but the UK duo lost in the second round (Round of 16) to the No. 1 seed in the tournament in Anna Rogers and Alana Smith of NC State … Paražinskaite put together a 4-7 singles record during the dual season, including a 1-2 singles mark in the conference … She played mostly on the No. 1 singles court, before moving to the No. 2 singles court for conference action … In doubles, Paražinskaite  recorded a 5-4 doubles record during the dual season, including a 0-3 doubles mark in the conference … Paired with redshirt junior Lesedi Jacobs to start the dual season, the duo recorded a 3-0 mark on the first doubles court … Season was cut short on Thursday, March 12 due to the COVID-19 public health threat … Named to the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll.

Singles Doubles
Dual 4-7 Dual 5-4
Tour 5-2 Tour 10-1
Conf 1-2 Conf 0-3
Overall 9-9 Overall 15-6

R-Junior (2018-19)
Selected to the NCAA Doubles Championships for the first time in her career … There, she and partner senior Justina Mikulskyte led after the first set, but dropped to No. 15 Sophie Whittle and Grviela Rosas of Gonzaga on a 6-4, 6-6 (10) mark … In dual meets this season, Paražinskaite competed mostly in the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 post in singles, recording a 13-12 mark, including a 4-7 mark in the league … Paražinskaite recorded her best record on court No. 2, posting a 7-4 mark … In doubles, Paražinskaite boasted a 15-8 mark, all on court No. 2 … Paired with Mikulskyte, the doubles team notched a 13-8 record, including an 8-2 mark in the league and an 8-2 mark against ranked foes … The UK pair shined under pressure, notching four ITA/Oracle National Doubles Rankings Top 15 wins, having defeated No. 1 Mia Horvit and Gamarra Martins, No. 3 and reigning national doubles champions in Eden Richardson and Jessica Golovin, No. 11 Sadie Hammond and Kaitlin Staines, and No. 14 Sophia Graver and Taylor Russo … Paražinskaite  was selected to SEC Community Service Team for the second straight season … In addition, she received the Frank G. Ham Society of Character honor, issued by UK Athletics … Named to SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll.

Singles Doubles
Dual 13-12 Dual 15-7
Tour 0-0 Tour 0-1
Conf 4-7 Conf 8-2
Overall 13-12 Overall 15-8

Junior (2017-18)
Suffered a season-ending injury in January and was unable to compete in any dual matches … Posted a 4-4 singles record in the fall … Earned two singles wins at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships in October over North Carolina’s No. 42 Alexa Graham and Duke’s No. 54 Samantha Harris … Went 6-3 in fall doubles play, teaming with Mami Adachi … Paired with Adachi to win the Ohio Valley Regional doubles title and advance to the Oracle/ITA Fall National Championships … Debuted as the No. 13 doubles pair in the ITA preseason rankings with Adachi … Selected to SEC Community Service Team.

Sophomore (2016-17)
Ended the season ranked No. 94 in singles and No. 76 in doubles with Morgan Chumney … Played primarily on court No. 2 in both singles and in doubles … Ranked as high as No. 74 in singles throughout the season, picking up wins against five ranked opponents … Top singles win came against No. 45 Ingrid Martins from South Carolina in the SEC Tournament  … Posted an overall singles record of 13-8 in duals, and went 5-7 against SEC opponents … Paired with Chumney to go 10-6 in doubles, with a 6-3 league record … Named to SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll.
 
Freshman (2015-16)
Posted a 13-13 record during her freshman campaign, playing primarily in the No. 4 spot with a 4-9 record in the SEC … Named SEC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 17 after a flawless weekend in helping Kentucky record its first undefeated weekend in league play of the year … When paired with Morgan Chumney, the duo went 10-2, including 3-1 in SEC action … Finished the season with a No. 77 national ranking in doubles, and was ranked as high as No. 51 … Posted a 6-4 upset of No. 22 Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock of Florida to help Kentucky hand the Gators their first doubles point loss of the season.
 
Prior to UK
Two-time bronze medalist at the Junior Olympics in China … Career-high ITF ranking of 19 and WTA 621 … Member of the Fed Cup Team … Posted 66 wins in singles … Held record of 49-25 at doubles.
 
Personal
Attended Elektrenai Center of Vocational Training in Lithuania … Daughter of Vytautas Paraziskas and Ruta Parazinskiene … Has one brother, Adas.

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