The wins are starting to pile up for Kentucky’s women’s tennis team, as they now stand at 7-0 after cruising past the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 7-0 this afternoon.  

Doubles play once again went the Cats’ way, as the dynamic duo of Akvilė Paražinskaitė and Fiona Arrese bested WKU’s Cora-Lynn vonDungern and Lisa Friess 6-2. Lesedi Jacobs and Salsa Aher weren’t far behind, closing out the point by defeating Lauren Joch and Tristan Bryant-Otake by a similar 6-2 margin. 

Arrese quickly added another point in singles play. The freshman from Barcelona, Spain defeated Bryant-Otake 6-2, 6-2 to double the Kentucky lead.

Aher, another freshman, was next to claim victory for UK. She beat Samantha Martinez 6-1, 6-0, rebounding nicely in her first match since suffering her first singles loss of the year versus Marshall on Thursday. 

Not to be outdone by the undergrads, Paražinskaitė – a graduate student – officially notched the win for Kentucky, besting vonDungern on court one 6-1, 6-3. Paražinskaitė is undefeated in both singles and doubles play so far this season.  

Court three provided the match of the afternoon, featuring two juniors from Spain: UK’s Carla Girbau and WKU’s Laura Bernardos. Girbau came into the match with a 5-1 singles record, opposed by 2-1 Bernardos. Girbau claimed the first set with ease, taking it 6-1. Bernardos answered with a strong showing, grabbing the second set 6-3 to force a third set tiebreaker. Girbau was able to outlast Bernardos in the final frame, getting the point behind a 1-0 (10-4) finish.  

Making her season debut, Diana Tkachenko followed along in victory with her teammates. The fifth-year student out of Moscow, Russia defeated Alexis Cramer, 6-2, 6-2, picking up from right where she left off last season.  

Maialen Morante improved her singles record to 4-0 to complete the sweet for the Cats, as she beat Freiss 7-6, 6-2. 

Today’s match concluded a nine-day stretch of seven matches to kick off the season for UK. The Cats now have a week-long break before returning to the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Saturday, where they will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Kentucky’s final non-conference match is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. E.T.