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Kentucky Punches Ticket to ITA Nationals with 4-1 Win Over Notre Dame

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Kentucky Punches Ticket to ITA Nationals with 4-1 Win Over Notre Dame


LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats (6-0) secured their bid to the 2023 ITA Nationwide Indoor Championships on Saturday night, defeating Notre Dame (5-2) within the Lexington Regional Last on the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Middle, 4-1.

This marks the second straight season by which the Wildcats have certified for Indoor Nationals. Final yr, the Cats beat USC within the spherical of 16 earlier than falling in a detailed contest to Baylor within the quarterfinals. This yr’s occasion shall be hosted by the College of Illinois in Chicago, Feb. 16-19.

The Cats had been compelled to play from behind for the primary time this season after dropping the doubles level. UK’s Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer struck first at third doubles with a snug 6-1 win, however Notre Dame quickly leveled issues with a 6-3 end result on courtroom one from their prime group of Sebastian Dominko and Connor Fu. A good set at second doubles ended with a tiebreak victory for Notre Dame, giving the guests the early edge.

UK would reply in singles play, taking the primary 4 matches to solidify the win. No. 4 singles Taha Baadi was the primary to complete, prevailing over Fu, 7-6 (5), 6-2 to place Kentucky on the board. Moments later, the Cats grabbed two extra matches as Lapadat and Alafia Ayeni notched wins in speedy succession. Lapadat remained unbeaten on the yr in singles play, beating The Preventing Irish’s Addy Vashistha, 6-2, 6-3, whereas Ayeni dispatched Matt Che in straight units, 6-4, 6-4.

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Because the no. 5 and no. 6 singles took to the courts for warmups, Kentucky’s Liam Draxl was locked in a three-set battle on courtroom one with the Notre Dame freshman, Dominko. After falling within the opening set, 6-2, Draxl dug deep to assert set quantity two in a tiebreaker, 7-6(5). The senior captain ultimately wore his opponent down in set three, profitable, 6-1 to seal the group victory. Each Charlelie Cosnet (no. 5) and Mercer (no. 6) led of their opening units on the time the match was referred to as.

“The followers type of carried for it for us, we had a full home at this time in order that was nice,” Ayeni mentioned. “We did drop the doubles level. Credit score to Notre Dame, they got here out firing. They’d a extremely good prime of their lineup. I had a troublesome match, Drax[l] had a troublesome match, however I believe ultimately we type of fought via.  Our coaching took over and that’s what makes Cats, Cats.”

The Wildcats shall be off till Feb. 3 when the group makes its first street journey of the season to tackle No. 1 UVA in a rematch of final yr’s NCAA Nationwide Championship. Match time is ready for five p.m. in Charlottesville.

Outcomes

Doubles

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Court docket 1: Dominko/Fu (ND) def. Draxl/Ayeni (UK) – 6-3

Court docket 2: Che/Zhang (ND) def. LeBlanc/Weekes (UK) – 7-6 (1)

Court docket 3: Lapadat/Mercer (UK) def. Halpin/Lee (ND) – 6-1

Order of end: 3, 1, 2

Singles

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Court docket 1: Liam Draxl (UK) def. Sebastian Dominko (ND) – 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1

Court docket 2: Alafia Ayeni (UK) def. Matt Che (ND) – 6-4, 6-4

Court docket 3: Joshua Lapadat (UK) def. Addy Vashistha (ND) – 6-2, 6-3

Court docket 4: Taha Baadi (UK) def. Connor Fu (ND) – 7-6 (5), 6-2

Court docket 5: Charlelie Cosnet (UK) vs. Yu Zhang (ND) – 3-1 (unfinished)

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Court docket 6: JJ Mercer (UK) vs. Jameson Corsillo (ND) – 5-0 (unfinished)

Order of end: 4, 3, 2, 1

For the most recent on UK Males’s Tennis, comply with the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.





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Kentucky

ESPN picks the winner between Kentucky and Georgia State

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ESPN picks the winner between Kentucky and Georgia State


The Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready to take on Georgia State in Rupp Arena as Mark Pope’s squad will look to move to 7-0 on the season. In the Wildcat’s first game of the week, they took down WKU, but for the first team, all season looked vulnerable.

The Wildcats were able to win this game 87-68, but there were some things Coach Pope’s team could have done better. Defensively the Wildcats were solid in the win, but the threes weren’t falling in this ball game.

A game like this was good for Kentucky because they have looked unstoppable against every team this season aside from Duke, so a little bit of struggle is a good thing. The threes won’t always fall, so the Wildcats need to learn to win a game when this is happening.

Now the Wildcats will take on Georgia State who is 4-3 on the season. The Panthers played Mississippi State earlier in the season, and the Bulldogs blew them out 101-61 in Starkville.

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ESPN doesn’t seem to think the Wildcats will struggle in this ball game as they give Kentucky a 98.2% chance to win.

The goal in this game for the Wildcats should be to keep working on the rebounding and taking care of the ball but also the shots need to fall.

The matchup between the Kentucky Wildcats and Georgia State will be on Friday the 29th at 7:00 pm et. Kentucky fans can watch this game on the SEC Network. Coach Pope and his team shouldn’t have any issue blowing out the Panthers on Friday.



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No. 12 Kentucky Captures SEC Title Outright with 3-1 Win over No. 24 Missouri

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No. 12 Kentucky Captures SEC Title Outright with 3-1 Win over No. 24 Missouri


Thanks to a dominant offensive performance from every position across the net, No. 12 Kentucky picked up a 3-1 victory over No. 24 Missouri Wednesday night in Columbia (25-19, 25-14, 23-25, 25-20) to capture the SEC Title outright for the second-consecutive season.

As they’ve done for much of the season, the Cats once again turned to their superstar sophomore to deliver under the brightest lights as DeLeye recorded a match-high 19 kills on an impressive .359 clip. She also picked up five service aces in the winning effort and rattled off a 5-0 service run to bring the Cats back within a point and kickstart a comeback after trailing by as many as six in the fourth and final set.

DeLeye wasn’t doing it by herself against the Tigers, however, as Megan Wilson (13) and Brooke Bultema (11) also eclipsed double figures in the match. Rounding out the scoring was Jordyn Dailey, who finished with nine kills on a .750 hitting percentage and Erin Lamb, who finished with eight terminations.

Kentucky was paced by senior setter Emma Grome who dished out a match-high 54 assists as the Cats hit .377 as a team.

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On the back line Eleanor Beavin led the way with 15 digs and a pair of service aces. Molly Tuozzo added 14 digs to go along with four assists and a service ace, Grome finished with eight digs, Wilson had six, and DeLeye had five.

Dailey led the defensive effort at the net with four rejections. Grome added three, Wilson had a pair, and Bultema and DeLeye each totaled one.

With the victory, Kentucky concludes the regular season with a 20-7 overall record and a 14-2 mark in the SEC and are currently riding an 11-match winning streak. With no matches left to play, the Cats claimed the SEC Title outright and the NCAA Tournament’s automatic qualifier over Texas, who currently sits in second place with three losses and a match still left to play. With the regular season concluded, Kentucky now awaits their NCAA Tournament berth as the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Selection Show airs Sunday evening at 6:00 pm ET. The top-16 seeded teams named by the committee will host the First and Second Rounds next weekend on campus.



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Kentucky football lands another top 500 recruit for 2025

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Kentucky football lands another top 500 recruit for 2025


Kentucky football lost a 2025 wide receiver when recruit Ja’kayden Ferguson re-opened his recruitment in mid-November. Now, they have gained a commitment from top 500 receiver Dejerrian Miller to take the open spot.

Miller is a 6’3″, 195 lb receiver out of Missouri. He is rated four stars, and is ranked as the number 379 overall player in the 2025 class in the 247sports composite rankings. He is the 53rd ranked receiver in the class.

Eight options to replace coach Mark Stoops

Coach Mark Stoops and his staff have put together a solid recruiting class for 2025 so far. It’s currently ranked 25th in the country, though it is the 13th best class of the 16 teams of the SEC.

Miller joins Quintin Simmons Jr., Preston Bowman, and Montavin Quisenberry as wide receivers who are committed to Kentucky for 2025. Miller’s size should be an advantage for him as he looks to find playing time. It’s good get for the Wildcats and Stoops, who continues to bring in quality players at the receiver position.

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