DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Open NCAA Championships vs. Kentucky
5/2/2019 1:17:00 PM | WOMEN'S TENNIS
First serve is 10 AM Friday at Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.
CHICAGO – The BIG EAST champion Blue Demons are headed to Ann Abor, Mich. to face SEC power Kentucky at 10 a.m. (CT) Friday in their NCAA Championships opener.
Behind All-BIG EAST First Team selections Keisha Clousing and Aspasia Avgeri and All-BIG EAST second-teamers Marija Jovicic and Alina Kuzmenkova, DePaul (11-11) won its last five matches culminating with a 4-3 victory over Xavier for the conference crown and automatic NCAA berth.
This will be the fourth NCAA appearance in the last six years for coach Mark Ardizzone's program after earning the automatic NCAA berth with BIG EAST titles in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019. DePaul advanced to its first NCAA Championships with an at-large berth in 2010.
Clousing will take the Varsity Tennis Center court on host Michigan's campus riding a five-match winning streak and going 8-2 in her last 10 matches as the No. 1 singles player. The senior from Wheaton Warrenville South is 13-5 in the dual season and 1-2 against nationally ranked opponents.
Jovicic is playing her best tennis of the season after combining to win three singles showdowns and two doubles encounters on her way to being named the BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Player. The sophomore from Bosnia and Herzegovina has won her last four singles matches.
At No. 2 singles, Avgeri has gone 7-3 in her last 10 matches while Kuzmenkova is coming off the most clutch performance of her career.
The sophomore from Stavropol, Russia was trailing 3-0 in the third set of the defining BIG EAST Championship match and rallied for an inspiring 6-3 win that secured the league title and NCAA berth.
DePaul and Kentucky (18-8) have met once before in the NCAA postseason. It was 2015 at the very same Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor when the Blue Demons upset No. 25 Kentucky 4-1. They came up short in the NCAA Second Round against No. 11 Michigan 4-2.
That 2015 team led by the program's current assistant coach Yuliya Shupenia finished with a sparkling 22-5 record.
Ardizzone & Co. are once again the underdog against a Wildcats team that comes in ranked No. 26 in the Tennis Channel/USTA poll and No. 29 in the Oracle/ITA national rankings. Kentucky is 9-6 against nationally ranked opponents including victories over No. 19 LSU and No. 31 Florida.
Leading the way is All-SEC First Team standout Justina Mikulskyte who is 13-5 at No. 1 singles and has prevailed over seven nationally ranked opponents. The doubles team of Mikulskyte and Akvile Parazinskaite has been invited to the NCAA Doubles Championships after going 8-0 against nationally ranked tandems including wins over the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams. Mikulskyte and Parazinskaite come into Friday's match ranked No. 15.
Recaps and results are available at depaulbluedemons.com.
2019 NCAA First and Second Round Schedule
Varsity Tennis Center (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
First Round (Friday, May 3)
No. 26 Kentucky vs. DePaul – 10 a.m. (Central Time)
No. 17 Michigan vs. Illinois-Chicago – 1 p.m. (CT)
Second Round (Saturday, May 4)
Winner match 1 vs. winner match 2 – 12 p.m.(CT)
Behind All-BIG EAST First Team selections Keisha Clousing and Aspasia Avgeri and All-BIG EAST second-teamers Marija Jovicic and Alina Kuzmenkova, DePaul (11-11) won its last five matches culminating with a 4-3 victory over Xavier for the conference crown and automatic NCAA berth.
This will be the fourth NCAA appearance in the last six years for coach Mark Ardizzone's program after earning the automatic NCAA berth with BIG EAST titles in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019. DePaul advanced to its first NCAA Championships with an at-large berth in 2010.
Clousing will take the Varsity Tennis Center court on host Michigan's campus riding a five-match winning streak and going 8-2 in her last 10 matches as the No. 1 singles player. The senior from Wheaton Warrenville South is 13-5 in the dual season and 1-2 against nationally ranked opponents.
Jovicic is playing her best tennis of the season after combining to win three singles showdowns and two doubles encounters on her way to being named the BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Player. The sophomore from Bosnia and Herzegovina has won her last four singles matches.
At No. 2 singles, Avgeri has gone 7-3 in her last 10 matches while Kuzmenkova is coming off the most clutch performance of her career.
The sophomore from Stavropol, Russia was trailing 3-0 in the third set of the defining BIG EAST Championship match and rallied for an inspiring 6-3 win that secured the league title and NCAA berth.
DePaul and Kentucky (18-8) have met once before in the NCAA postseason. It was 2015 at the very same Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor when the Blue Demons upset No. 25 Kentucky 4-1. They came up short in the NCAA Second Round against No. 11 Michigan 4-2.
That 2015 team led by the program's current assistant coach Yuliya Shupenia finished with a sparkling 22-5 record.
Ardizzone & Co. are once again the underdog against a Wildcats team that comes in ranked No. 26 in the Tennis Channel/USTA poll and No. 29 in the Oracle/ITA national rankings. Kentucky is 9-6 against nationally ranked opponents including victories over No. 19 LSU and No. 31 Florida.
Leading the way is All-SEC First Team standout Justina Mikulskyte who is 13-5 at No. 1 singles and has prevailed over seven nationally ranked opponents. The doubles team of Mikulskyte and Akvile Parazinskaite has been invited to the NCAA Doubles Championships after going 8-0 against nationally ranked tandems including wins over the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams. Mikulskyte and Parazinskaite come into Friday's match ranked No. 15.
Recaps and results are available at depaulbluedemons.com.
2019 NCAA First and Second Round Schedule
Varsity Tennis Center (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
First Round (Friday, May 3)
No. 26 Kentucky vs. DePaul – 10 a.m. (Central Time)
No. 17 Michigan vs. Illinois-Chicago – 1 p.m. (CT)
Second Round (Saturday, May 4)
Winner match 1 vs. winner match 2 – 12 p.m.(CT)
Players Mentioned
/ WOMEN'S TENNIS
/ WOMEN'S TENNIS
/ WOMEN'S TENNIS
/ WOMEN'S TENNIS
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