Blue Demons Drop NCAA Opener to Kentucky

Friday, May 3

Ann Arbor, Mich.

10:00 A.M. CT

DePaul University

University of Kentucky

5/3/2019 12:58:00 PM | WOMEN'S TENNIS

Clousing and Antonijevic take down No. 16 doubles pair in the country

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The DePaul women's tennis team ran into one of its most formidable opponents on Friday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

No. 29 Kentucky proved to be too much for the Blue Demons in a 4-1 result on the courts of the Preston Robert Tisch Tennis Building.

DePaul jumped out to a 1-0 advantage clinching the doubles victory from the Wildcats. The Blue Demons doubles effort was headlined by Keisha Clousing and Lenka Antonijevic's 6-3 victory at No. 1 over Justina Mikulskyte and Akvile Parazinskaite, who are ranked the No. 16 doubles pair in the nation. Alina Kuzmenkova and Aspasia Avgeri took a 6-2 win at No. 3 over the Wildcats' Brianna Tulloch and Alexis Merrill.

In singles action, Alina Kuzmenkova was edged out by Akvile Parazinskaite at No. 3 6-3, 6-3.

All-BIG EAST First Team member Aspasia Avgeri took the first set from Lesedi Jacobs at No. 2 but dropped the second and third sets 0-6, 0-6, to give the Wildcats the 2-1 lead.

Kentucky moved to 3-1 on the match with the BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Player Marija Jovicic falling to Diana Tkachenko at No. 4, 2-6, 2-7.

Clousing forced a first set tiebreak at No. 1, but could not complete the comeback dropping to the No. 27 singles player in the nation Justina Mikulskyte, 6-7 (1), 3-6.

Friday's NCAA opener served as the last match in the storied careers of Blue Demons Milica Tesic and Keisha Clousing. Tesic completes her DePaul career with two selections to the BIG EAST All-Academic team and instrumental performances en route to two BIG EAST titles in 2016-17 and 2018-19. Clousing closes out her time as a Blue Demon as a two-time all-academic performer, three-time All-BIG EAST team member and two-time BIG EAST Champion after amassing 41 singles victories in three years.

Coach Mark Ardizzone's team finished the season with a record of 11-12 while Kentucky (19-8) advances to Saturday's second round to face either Michigan or UIC.

NCAA First Round -- Kentucky 4, DePaul 1
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 27 Justina Mikulskyte (UK) d. Keisha Clousing (DePaul), 7-6 (1), 6-3
No. 2 -- Lesedi Jacobs (UK) d. Aspasia Avgeri (DePaul), 3-6, 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 -- Akvile Parazinskaite (UK) d. Alina Kuzmenkova (DePaul), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- Diana Tkachenko (UK) d. Marija Jovicic (DePaul), 6-2, 7-6 (2)
No. 5 -- Anastasia Tkachenko (UK) vs. Milica Tesic (DePaul), 1-6, 6-1, 5-4 abandoned
No. 6 -- Brianna Tulloch (UK) vs. Madelyn Yergler (DePaul), 7-5, 4-5 abandoned

Doubles
No. 1 -- Keisha Clousing/Lenka Antonijevic (DePaul) d. No. 16 Justina Mikulskyte/Akvile Parazinskaite (UK), 6-3
No. 2 -- Lesedi Jacobs/Anastasia Tkachenko (UK) vs. Marija Jovicic/Milica Tesic (DePaul), 4-3 abandoned
No. 3 -- Alina Kuzmenkova/Aspasia Avgeri (DePaul) d. Brianna Tulloch/Alexis Merrill (UK), 6-2

Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1; Singles 3-2-4-1