Kentucky Women’s Tennis Hosts Miami Ohio, Bellarmine on Sunday

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Fresh off two thrilling wins over East Tennessee State on Friday in the 2022 season and home opener, the University of Kentucky women’s tennis team returns to the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center on Sunday, Jan. 16 to host Miami Ohio and Bellarmine for another doubleheader.

The match against the RedHawks is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET while first serve versus the Knights is slated for 5 p.m. Live scoring will be available here.

Admission to all home tennis matches will be free for the 2022 season. Capacity at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center is limited and will be based on a first come, first serve basis.
 
Regardless of an individual’s vaccination status, all fans, guests, and staff are required to wear a mask as they enter, exit, and move around the building. If spectators are unable to wear masks, they are encouraged to not attend matches in person for the sake of their health and the health of others.
 
Free parking options include the three small E-lots adjacent to the facility 90 minutes prior to the first match. Spectators may also pay to park in the Sports Center Garage (PS No. 7) on the corner of Complex Drive and Sports Center Drive. The cost of parking is $2 per hour with a $16 maximum.

Kentucky defeated East Tennessee State, 4-3, in both matches during Friday’s doubleheader to begin the year with a 2-0 record. Fiona Arrese and Florencia Urrutia each picked up a pair of singles victories, also teaming up to win a doubles match.

UK’s two freshmen showed up big in their first time donning the blue and white. Lidia Gonzalez secured a 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 win to bring the second match up to three apiece between the Wildcats and Bucs. In what proved to be a tenacious comeback effort, Ellie Eades outlasted ETSU in a grueling 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(9) battle to give UK the match point.

Sunday’s contest with Miami Ohio and Bellarmine continues Kentucky’s challenging schedule, which includes matchups with nine teams who either were ranked or received votes in the preseason ITA poll. The 2022 slate consists of 24 regular season matches with UK hosting 17 of those at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.

UK posted a 16-9 overall mark with a 6-7 record in the Southeastern Conference during the 2021 campaign. Last season was one for the record books, as Arrese and Akvile Paražinskaite earned the No. 1 seed in the doubles draw for the NCAA Championships. The duo were the first Wildcats to be ranked No. 1 since 2016 and the first with Carlos Drada at the helm.

The 2021-22 season marks Drada’s 17th year as head coach and his 21st season overall in Lexington. Prior to the start of the fall season, the team welcomed Brad Merchant as the assistant coach. No stranger to UK, Merchant had served as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for Kentucky men’s basketball since 2019 and was the volunteer assistant for the women’s tennis team during the 2016-17 season.

Kentucky and Miami Ohio last faced each other on Jan. 26, 2021 in Lexington where the Wildcats swept the RedHawks, 7-0. Sunday’s match will mark the first meeting with Bellarmine in program history.

For the latest on the Kentucky women’s tennis program, follow @UKWomensTennis on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook, and on the web at UKathletics.com.