A fresh set of Wildcats look to make their fall debut, as the Kentucky women’s tennis team travels to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to compete in the Ohio Valley Regional Championship, hosted by UT Chattanooga.
The regional championship will kick off Thursday, Oct. 11 and conclude Monday, Oct. 15. The field is made up of 22 teams including Austin Peay, Ball State, Belmont, Butler, Cincinnati, ETSU, Indiana, IUPUI, Kentucky, Lipscomb, Louisville, Memphis, Miami (Ohio), MTSU, Northern Kentucky, Purdue, Tennessee, hosts UT Chattanooga, UT Martin, Vanderbilt, Wright State and Xavier.
One hundred twenty-eight players make up the singles main draw, with an additional 64 players set to compete in the B flight. The doubles main draw will feature 64 teams, while 32 team fill the B flight.
Making the trip for the Wildcats is freshman Alexis Merrill, sophomore McKenzie Moorhead, senior Akvile Paražinskaite, juniors Anastasia and Diana Tkachenko and sophomore Brianna Tulloch.
“We are ready for a great tournament,” said head coach Carlos Drada. “Our women have prepared well during the last month and are eager to perform at their highest level. I am excited for the accountability that each and every one is currently displaying.”
The Wildcats competing in the singles main draw include Merrill, Paražinskaite, Diana and Anastasia Tkachenko and Tulloch . Paražinskaite and Diana Tkachenko are seeded – Nos. 1 and 17, respectively. Merrill, Anastasia Tkachenko and Tulloch will begin competing at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, while Paražinskaite and Diana Tkachenko will enjoy a bye for the first round and will pick up play at 9 a.m. on Friday.
Moorhead will compete in the singles flight B bracket, who is also assigned a bye for the first round. She will resume play on Friday at noon.
The doubles main draw features Merrill-Paražinskaite as a No. 6 seed. The pair have a bye, so they will prepare for second-round action set for 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Also in the field is Tkachenko-Tkachenko who will face Ball State at 9 a.m. on Thursday for the first round.
Moorhead-Tulloch take on a 32-team field in the doubles flight B draw. A bye round will set up the pair to compete at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
A pair of seniors claimed top-100 spots on the 2018 Oracle/ITA Preseason National Rankings, including one who will compete this weekend. Paražinskaite comes in at No. 71.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKWomensTennis, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
– GO CATS –
For more information contact:
Cami Moore