Wildcats Advance to Championship Match of ITA Kick-Off Regional

ANN ARBOR, Mich. –Kentucky women’s tennis opened up the 2016 championship season with a 4-1 victory over No. 32 Dartmouth as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, and will play in the regional championship match tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET, where the Wildcats will face host team No. 14 Michigan for a chance to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship at the University of Wisconsin on Feb. 5-8. Dartmouth started off by winning the doubles point for its only tally of the day.  The first set to finish was Justina Mikulskytė and Nadia Ravita, who won the only doubles set for the Blue and White by taking down Jacqueline Crawford and Julienne Keong in a decisive 6-1 victory.  The next set saw Kirsten Lewis and Akvilė Paražinskaitė fall to Julia Schroeder and Katherine Yau, 6-3. In the final doubles set, No. 34 Taylor Ng/Kristina Mathis took down the No. 1-ranked pairing of Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi, 6-4.From there, the Wildcats dominated the remainder of the clash against the Big Green, not conceding any points in singles action.  First, Paražinskaitė handily defeated Schroeder in No. 5 singles, 6-0, 6-2.  Following her victory, Ravita took down Crawford in No. 3 singles, first taking a close opening set, 7-6(3), before a 6-0 shutout in the second set.  Lewis matched up with Chuang in No. 6 singles, coming away with a 6-4, 6-3 win over the Dartmouth athlete.  The final point to be scored for Kentucky was by No. 100 Adachi in her 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-1 takedown of Yau in No. 2 singles.  Before her match was abandoned, Mikulskytė was leading in No. 4 singles against Mathis, dropping the first set, 1-6, before battling back for a 7-6(3) win in the second.  At the time the match was abandoned, Mikulskytė was leading Mathis, 5-3.  No. 97 Adachi also had an abandoned match in No. 1 singles when UK had secured its victory, as she was tied 2-2 with Ng in the deciding set after winning the opening set, 6-3, and falling in the second set, 4-6.Visit UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information on the Kentucky women’s tennis team and all 22 varsity sports. For additional info, notes, and behind-the-scenes updates, follow the team on Twitter at @UKWomensTennis and on Facebook.Final ResultsDoubles (Order of finish:  3-2-1)1 - No. 34 Taylor Ng/Kristina Mathis (Dartmouth) def. No. 1 Mami Adachi/Aldila Sutjiadi (UK), 6-42 – Julia Schroeder/Katherine Yau (Dartmouth) def. Kirsten Lewis/Akvilė Paražinskaitė (UK), 6-33 – Justina Mikulskytė/Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Jacqueline Crawford/Julienne Keong (Dartmouth), 6-1Singles (Order of finish:  5-3-6-2)1 – No. 97 Aldila Sutjiadi (UK) vs. Taylor Ng (Dartmouth), 6-3, 4-6, 2-2 abandoned2 – No. 100 Mami Adachi (UK) def. Katherine Yau (Dartmouth), 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-13 – Nadia Ravita (UK) def. Jacqueline Crawford (Dartmouth), 7-6(3), 6-04 – Justina Mikulskytė (UK) def. Kristina Mathis (Dartmouth), 1-6, 7-6(3), 5-3 abandoned5 – Akvilė Paražinskaitė (UK) def. Julia Schroeder (Dartmouth), 6-0, 6-26 - Kirsten Lewis (UK) def. Chuang (Dartmouth), 6-4, 6-3