UK WTen Completes First Day at ITA Regional Championships

The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team had an exceptional first day at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship on Friday, winning 8-of-10 matches to open the tournament. The Wildcats went 3-1 in doubles, and 5-1 in singles to kick off the weekend.
Due to already receiving a bid to the UTSA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, the Wildcats decided to withdraw the No. 1 ranked preseason pairing of Aldila Sutjiadi and Mami Adachi from the doubles main draw. The two remaining Kentucky duos, however, both swept their competition in the round of 32, posting 8-0 matches. Emily Fanning/Akvile Parazinskaite defeated Belmont’s pair of Lindsey Whitehead/Kendall Warren and Justina Mikulskyte/Lesedi Jacobs took down Vanderbilt’s Summer Dvorak/Georgina Sellyn.
Mikulskyte/Jacobs will advance to the semifinal round after earning an 8-2 win over Xavier’s Sydney Liggins/Cristina Di Lorenzo in the second round. The tandem will take on Vanderbilt’s Fernanda Contreras/Emily Smith tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. Kentucky’s second pair of Fanning/Parazinskaite will not continue in the doubles competition after falling in an 8-6 decision to Louisville’s Mariana Humberg/Abbie Pahz.
Five Wildcats will move on in the singles main draw Saturday as Mikulskyte was ousted by Austin Peay State’s Claudia Yanes-Garcia. Both Sutjiadi and Adachi will continue in singles in the pursuit of another UTSA/ITA Indoor Championships berth, while Fanning, Parazinskaite and Jacobs will seek out their first bids in both events.
UK will resume singles competition Saturday at 9 a.m. Jacobs will take on top-seeded Sydney Campbell from Vanderbilt, Adachi will play Indiana’s Madison Appel, Parazinskaite will face Burcu Tari from UT Martin, Fanning will go up against Northern Kentucky’s Margita Sunjic and Sutjiadi is set for a matchup with East Tennessee State’s Ioanna Markesini.
ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships
Oct. 20-24, 2016
Adams Tennis Complex
Friday
Main Draw Singles
Lesedi Jacobs (Kentucky) def. Alory Pereira (Middle Tennessee State), 6-4, 7-6(2)
Mami Adachi (Kentucky) def. Elpida Malamou (Western Kentucky), 7-5, 6-3
Claudia Yanes-Garcia (Austin Peay State) def. Justina Mikulskyte (Kentucky), 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-3
Akvile Parazinskaite (Kentucky) def. Kseniya Zonova (Southeast Missouri State), 7-6(5), 6-2
Emily Fanning (Kentucky) def. Amina Hadzic (Murray State), 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Aldila Sutjiadi (Kentucky) def. Jui Yun Chang (Murray State), 6-2, 602
Main Draw Doubles
Emily Fanning/Akvile Parazinskaite (Kentucky) def. Lindsey Whitehead/Kendall Warren (Belmont), 8-0
Justina Mikulskyte/Lesedi Jacobs (Kentucky) def. Summer Dvorak/Georgina Sellyn (Vanderbilt), 8-0
Mariana Humberg/Abbie Pahz (Louisville) def. Emily Fanning/Akvile Parazinskaite (Kentucky), 8-6
Justina Mikulskyte/Lesedi Jacobs (Kentucky) def. Sydney Liggins/Cristina Di Lorenzo (Xavier), 8-2
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.
Karlie Kinneer
UK Athletics Media Relations