Thursday Headlines: Rise of Kentucky Tennis Edition

The men’s team has the top player in the nation, while the women have the top pair

By Zac Oakes@ZacOakes Apr 15, 2021, 6:40am EDT

The University of Kentucky Tennis teams are on the rise behind some legitimate star power.

On the men’s side, Liam Draxl ended the regular season as the number one player in the nation in Division I by the Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

With a 19-2 overall record, the Canadian sophomore owns nine wins over ranked opponents.

Along with Draxl, Gabriel Diallo (No. 21), Millen Hurrion (No. 43), César Bourgois (No. 97), and Joshua Lapadat (No. 114) also made the national rankings as the team finished with a 17-5 overall record.

And on the women’s team, the dominant duo of Akvile Paražinskaite and Fiona Arrese have staked their claim as the number one Doubles team in the nation. Paražinskaite, a graduate student from Lithuania, and Arrese, a freshman from Spain, hold an impressive 19-1 record.

On top of the tennis teams’ success, another UK athletic program is set to begin its postseason as the #2 ranked volleyball team begins it postseason run in Omaha tonight as they take on UNLV, who defeated Illinois State last night.

The match will start at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT and streamed live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Tyler Denning on the call.

Best of luck to the UK Volleyball team as they begin their tournament run!