Men's basketball
- The Kentucky men's basketball team dropped an 88-58 loss to Tennessee on Saturday. Sophomore Kyle Wiltjer led the Cats with 18 points and six rebounds.
- Senior Julius Mays scored 12 points and has logged 10 or more points in five straight games.
- Junior Jarrod Polson contributed a career-high 11 points.

Women's basketball
- Kentucky has won its last three games and looks to keep its winning streak alive when it faces No. 11/13 Texas A&M on ESPN2's Big Monday in the second meeting of the season between the teams.
- The Wildcats charted their 10th SEC win last week with an impressive come-from-behind victory over No. 16/14 South Carolina. Trailing by 16 points early in the second half, the Wildcats used a four-guard set to chip away at the Gamecocks' lead and win 78-74 - the largest comeback in the Matthew Mitchell era.
- Four players scored in double digits led by redshirt sophomore point guard Jennifer O'Neill with 19.

Gymnastics
- Then-No. 17 Kentucky defeated Missouri 194.250-194.125 on Friday night in Memorial Coliseum.
- Audrey Harrison was the lone all-around competitor posting a 39.3, which tied her career-high set last week.
- The junior also won balance beam, and shared the honors on uneven bars and floor exercise.
- The Knoxville, Tenn., native now has 12 individual event honors this season and 19 in her career.
- Her five all-around wins in 2013 have all come against Southeastern Conference competition.
- Shannon Mitchell tied Harrison for the floor title, her second of the season and the third of her career.

Rifle
- The Kentucky rifle team shot a 4697 on Saturday at the NCAA Qualifiers.
- Sophomore Elijah Ellis and senior Stacy Wheatley delivered personal bests in smallbore, with Ellis posting a 583 and Wheatley shooting a 586.
- Senior Henri Junghänel led the team in smallbore and air rifle, shooting a 588 in smallbore and a 594 in air rifle.

Softball
- The No. 22/24 UK softball team continued where it left off last weekend by defeating another ranked team en route to a 4-1 record in the 23rd Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego. The Wildcats posted wins over No. 16 Washington, San Diego State - who is receiving votes in one poll - Cal Poly and UC Riverside.
- Junior pitcher/infielder Lauren Cumbess paced the Wildcats throughout the weekend at the plate, blasting two homers for a .500 average (8-for-16) at the event with five RBI. Cumbess also went 1-0 in the circle, while freshman hurler Kelsey Nunley went 3-0 with a 2.21 ERA over the weekend. Nunley defeated San Diego State and Washington, throwing a complete game shutout against the Aztecs allowing only three hits.
- UK has now defeated three ranked teams this season in then-No. 3 Cal, No. 16 Washington and No. 20 Stanford. Coach Rachel Lawson and Co. have also taken down Oregon State and SDSU, who both were receiving votes when UK posted wins against them. After two weekends of play, UK is 8-3 with its only losses coming to No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Arizona State and unranked Portland State.

Baseball
- Kentucky began the season 2-0 with wins over UNC Asheville and Niagara in Spartanburg, S.C. UK wraps up play at Wofford on Monday against USC Upstate.
- Junior second baseman J.T. Riddle set a new program record with a 6-for-6 game at the plate and starter Jerad Grundy tied a career-best with nine strikeouts in six innings in the win over Niagara.
- Sophomore All-America southpaw A.J. Reed worked five innings on the mound and went a career-best 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBI, leading No. 8 Kentucky to a 9-2 season-opening win over UNC Asheville.

Men's tennis
- Kentucky advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2013 ITA National Team Indoor Championships this weekend in Seattle, recording wins over No. 10 Mississippi State (4-0), and No. 6 Georgia (4-2).
- UK's No. 90 Anthony Rossi went 2-0 in singles action, defeating No. 12 Raymond Sarmiento of Southern Cal and knocking off No. 21 Nathan Pasha of Georgia 6-4, 7-6 (7) on Sunday.
- With the wins this weekend, UK recorded their seventh win of the season over teams in the top 25 of the ITA rankings, as the Wildcats are now 3-1 versus teams in the top 10.
- Tom Jomby also went 2-0 in singles play this weekend, collecting two straight-set wins. On Friday, Jomby ran past No. 43 Malte Stroppe of Mississippi State 6-2, 6-0 before giving UK a crucial point in its match with UGA, collecting a 6-
4, 6-4 win over No. 92 over No. 92 Ben Wagland at the two slot.

Women's tennis
- The Kentucky women's tennis team knocked off No. 55 Ohio State and No. 54 Indiana throughout the course of the week, taking both matches 4-3.
- Freshman Nadia Ravita recorded two singles win in the No. 1 slot to go along with two doubles wins in the No. 1 slot, paired with junior Caitlin McGraw.
- Senior Jessica Stiles went 2-0 on the week in the No. 2 singles spot, taking both matches in straight sets.

Women's golf
- The UK women's golf team began their 2013 spring season with an eighth place finish in the 15-team field at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic Feb. 10-12.
- Senior Ashleigh Albrecht was the low finisher for the Wildcats, tying for 14th at 7-over-par.
- Junior Liz Breed and freshman Sarah Harris were tied for 28th at 12-over, while freshman Cylia Damerau placed tied for 34th at 13-over.

Upcoming schedule

Tuesday, Feb. 19
Women's tennis hosts Miami (OH) - 4:00 p.m.
Swimming and diving at SEC Championships (College, Station, Texas)
Men's golf at Mobile Bay Intercollegiate (Mobile, Ala.)
 
Wednesday, Feb. 20
Men's basketball hosts Vanderbilt - 8:00 p.m.
Swimming and diving at SEC Championships (College, Station, Texas)

Thursday, Feb. 21
Swimming and diving at SEC Championships (College, Station, Texas)

Friday, Feb. 22
Baseball vs. Elon - Noon (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Softball vs. Presbyterian - 2:00 p.m. (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Gymnastics at Florida - 7:00 p.m.
Swimming and diving at SEC Championships (College, Station, Texas)
Track and field at SEC Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.)

Saturday, Feb. 23
Softball vs. Georgetown - Noon (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Women's tennis at Kansas - 1:00 p.m.
Softball vs. USC Upstate - 2:00 p.m. (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Baseball vs. Coastal Carolina - 3:00 p.m. (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Men's basketball hosts Missouri - 9:00 p.m.
Swimming and diving at SEC Championships (College Station, Texas)
Track and field at SEC Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Rifle at GARC Championships (Oxford, Miss.)

Sunday, Feb. 24
Softball vs. Howard - 10:00 a.m. (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Men's tennis at Samford - 10:00 a.m.
Baseball vs. Kansas State - 11:00 a.m. (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Men's tennis vs. Jacksonville State - 2:00 p.m. (Birmingham, Ala.)
Women's basketball at LSU - 3:00 p.m.
Track and field at SEC Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Rifle at GARC Championships (Oxford, Miss.)

Like the autumn leaves, change in the UK women's tennis team started last fall.

Kentucky tennis players were fed up. They would no longer accept losing as an option.

"At the beginning of the year, we laid out our goals for the season and we fell short a little bit," said sophomore Grace Trimble.  "Now that we are holding each other accountable, we know that we can perform at the level to beat teams like Ohio State on their home court and beyond that."

The Wildcats are off to 4-2 start including a win over No. 55 Ohio State on the road last weekend. In the not-so-distant history of this program, a win over the No. 55 team in the country would be routine, but as head coach Carlos Drada looks to rebuild this program, last weekend's victory served as a byproduct of all the hard work his team has put in.

"That was kind of a game-changing win," said Drada. "It's going to help our momentum. I can see our ladies; they've never played against that kind of adversity."

That adversity was sparked by their loss of the doubles point at the beginning of the match, placing themselves behind the eight ball from the start. And playing on the road against a higher-ranked, more experienced team with a raucous crowd on top of them.

The Wildcats would need four singles victories to come back and clinch a win.

And they did, 4-3.

"They were able manage all that adversity and everybody on the court competed," said Drada. "We had chances to win all six singles matches, and that is rare when you're the underdog and are going against a more mature team."

While Kentucky's attitude had changed going into the season, the win helped validate the efforts that they Cats have made in the preseason and in these first six matches of 2013. Drada has talked extensively about bringing constant and consistent effort and focus to the practice court every single day.

Now, especially after seeing the fruits of their labor manifest on the court against Ohio State, UK players are starting to buy in to what Drada and the staff are selling.

"It's great to see that everyone is invested into what we're doing," said Drada. "In years before, they were not buying into it fully, but right now, just from their actions, they don't mind asking what they can do to get better. Some of them are asking that for the first time.

"It's just a great feeling. I know it's early in the season, but they are going to do what they can to have the best season possible for this team."

Part of the attitude adjustment can be directly attributed to the talent adjustment on the roster. Drada brought in a couple of highly touted freshmen to come in and compete immediately.

Nadia Ravita and Kirsten Lewis have been consistent performers for the Wildcats so far in their rookie seasons and have made immediate contributions. Ravita, the No. 67 player in the country, took down Ohio State's No. 53 Kelsey Dieters in the top match of singles competition. Their early play and ability to buy into the program has provided for a seamless transition.

"Nadia and Kirsten have added so much," said Trimble. "We know that when they step on the court, they are going to give 110 percent and come out with a win. Nadia has been wonderful, and Kirsten has too, to our team dynamic and they have just brought us all to a higher level."

The push to change hasn't only been an effort from Drada, but it's been a mission of the players to hold themselves accountable for their actions.  Times are changing in Lexington, even if that means the Cats are looking for the type of success this program has had in the past.

"We are starting to develop a culture on our team where it's about winning and about doing it for our teammates," said Trimble. "It's happened in our relationships with each other and how we push each other to hold each other accountable, and that has made the difference."

What might be most impressive and most important to Kentucky's culture is that this is a very young team. With just one senior and three juniors on the squad, UK doesn't have to rely on the way things used to be, but more the legacy the Cats want to leave for the future. The leadership hasn't come primarily from upperclassmen, but it's been a collective effort that's helped create the change for UK tennis.

"We have captains on our team, but everyone is acting as captains," said Drada. "Right now, we have two freshmen, and they're still very young, but they're committing to what we're trying to do and they're really following through on the court, and we're hoping they can maintain that constant focus because they're doing a great job with that."

As players continue to buy in and success follows, results like last weekend will continue to happen. Since that win, Drada can already sense a change in the environment around his team on the practice courts. The challenge now is to maintain that same focus heading into this weekend's matches with Indiana and Northern Kentucky.

The Wildcats can't spend too much time being excited about one win over Ohio State with No. 54 Indiana waiting in the wings.

"We cannot just celebrate and (the season's) done," said Drada. "You celebrate that one day for a bit and then you're ready to move forward and get better."

If Kentucky has moved on from last weekend with the intent of carrying that momentum back home, the Wildcats will give themselves a chance for more big victories this spring.

"Our players, if they perform to their capabilities, we're going to have the best chance to do well," said Drada. "Having a real crowd this weekend is going to help us a lot. What I'm looking for is that focused energy that is going to help us give our best effort."

Men's basketball
- Kentucky earned a hard-fought 72-62 win over visiting Auburn on Saturday to push its win-streak to a season-long five games.
- The Wildcats received another double-double effort from freshman Nerlens Noel who posted 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
- Sophomore Kyle Wiltjer led five players in double-figures with a team-best 14 points. Sophomore Ryan Harrow and freshman Willie Cauley-Stein both notched 12 points, with senior Julius Mays pitching in with 10.

Women's basketball
- Kentucky improved to 21-3 overall, 9-2 in the SEC with hard-fought road wins at Arkansas and Vanderbilt last week.
- Against the Razorbacks, the Wildcats rallied from an 11-point first half deficit for an 80-74 overtime win. Sophomore guard Bria Goss scored 16 of her team-high 17 points in the second half and overtime after not starting the game for the first time in her career, a stretch of 57 consecutive starts.
- On Sunday vs. Vanderbilt, A'dia Mathies put on quite the show by charting a season-high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. She also dished out a game-high five assists and three steals. She has now reached double figures in 22-of-24 games, including 15 in a row. The 28 points moved her up to No. 3 on UK's all-time scoring list with 1,815.

Gymnastics
- No. 18 Kentucky tied No. 6 Georgia 195.825 on Friday night in Memorial Coliseum.
- The team score was a season-high for the Wildcats.
- Audrey Harrison won the individual all-around title for the second straight week with a career-high 39.3.
- Harrison also won floor exercise, and she now has eight individual titles this season.
- Harrison has four all-around crowns this season, and they all have come in SEC competition.
- Jill Chappel, Shelby Hilton and Shannon Mitchell all tied or set new event career highs on Friday.

Softball
- The UK softball team started its 2013 season in style, going 4-2 against some of the best teams in the nation at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. UK got the season started fast with a nine-inning, 3-2 victory over No. 3 California in its season opener before defeating No. 20 Stanford in the weekend finale. UK also defeated Oregon State - who was also receiving votes in both preseason polls.
- Junior pitcher Lauren Cumbess was the difference in the huge UK victory, pitching all nine innings, allowing only six hits and two runs while striking out six. Cumbess also went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI - including the game winner.
- Five Wildcats closed the opening weekend with a batting average well over .350, including freshman Nikki Sagermann, who leads the team with a .429 mark. Junior Ginny Carroll leads the team in RBI with six, while senior Alice O'Brien has scored a team-high seven runs.
- On top of Cumbess' pitching performance against Cal, freshman hurler Kelsey Nunley was UK's star pitcher on the weekend, going 3-0 with wins against WMU, OSU and Stanford. In all, Nunley threw 17.1 innings, allowing seven earned runs while striking out a team-high 19.

Men's tennis
- The Kentucky men's tennis team climbed to No. 7 in this week's ITA rankings, after starting out the season 6-0. The Wildcats dropped their first match of 2013 in a back-and-forth affair 4-3 on Saturday night at No. 19 Illinois.
- In the loss, No. 94 Anthony Rossi upped his record to 6-1 on court one singles with a 6-4, 6-4 win, while
Charles Minc improved to 4-0 on the season with a 6-3, 6-3 win on court five.
- The Wildcats won the doubles point for the seventh time in seven tries with wins on courts two and three.

Women's tennis
- The Kentucky women's tennis team fell to No. 59 Tulane 6-1 on Saturday in New Orleans.
- Freshman Kirsten Lewis recorded Kentucky's lone win of the match, defeating Caroline Magnusson 0-6, 7-6 (1-0) (7).
- Freshman Nadia Ravita lost her first match of the season, falling 6-0, 6-4 to Klara Vyskocilova in the No. 1 slot.

Track and field
- Cally Macumber won the 3,000 meters at the Husky Classic on Saturday.
- Macumber's time of 8:59.98 set a new indoor school record.
- Chelsea Oswald took eighth with a PR 9:06.64, third-fastest indoor time in school history.
- The rest of the Wildcats spent the weekend competing at the Tyson Invitational on the Arkansas campus.
- Bradley Szypka finished second in the shot put with a PR-tying throw of 18.50m/60-08.50.
- Keffri Neal took second in the men's 800-meter final with a PR, team-best time of 1:49.79.
- Allison Peare ran a season-best, team-leading 2:09.04 in the women's 800 meters to finish fourth
- Keith Hayes produced a season-best time of 7.79 in the 60-meter hurdles finals to place fourth.

Women's golf
- The UK women's golf team began their 2013 spring season at the Lady Puerto Classic in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico at the Rio Mar Beach Resort River Course.
- The Wildcats opened up the invitational on Sunday carding a 13-over-par, 301 and are currently in seventh place. Senior Ashleigh Albrecht recorded the low round for UK with a 2-over-par, 74.
- The tournament will resume on Monday at 7 a.m. ET and the tournament is scheduled to wrap up with a final round on Tuesday beginning at 6:30 a.m.

Upcoming schedule

Monday, Feb. 11
Women's golf at Lady Puerto Rico Classic (Puerto Rico)

Tuesday, Feb. 12
Men's tennis hosts Notre Dame - 1:00 p.m.
Women's tennis at Ohio State - 4:00 p.m.
Men's basketball at Florida - 7:00 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts Eastern Kentucky - 7:00 p.m.
Women's golf at Lady Puerto Rico Classic (Puerto Rico)

Thursday, Feb. 14
Softball vs. Cal Poly - 6:30 p.m. (San Diego, Calif.)
Women's basketball hosts South Carolina - 7:00 p.m.
Softball at San Diego State - 9:00 p.m. (San Diego, Calif.)

Friday, Feb. 15
Baseball vs. UNC Asheville - Noon (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Softball vs. Washington - 2:15 p.m. (San Diego, Calif.)
Gymnastics hosts Missouri - 7:00 p.m.
Men's tennis at ITA National Indoor Championships (Seattle, Wash.)

Saturday, Feb. 16
Softball vs. UC Riverside - Noon (San Diego, Calif.)
Men's basketball at Tennessee - 1:00 p.m.
Baseball vs. USC Upstate - 4:00 p.m. (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Softball vs. Oklahoma - 4:30 p.m. (San Diego, Calif.)
Rifle hosts NCAA Qualifier
Men's tennis at ITA National Indoor Championships (Seattle, Wash.)

Sunday, Feb. 17
Women's tennis hosts Indiana - 11:00 a.m.
Baseball vs. Niagara - Noon (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Women's tennis hosts Northern Kentucky - 6:00 p.m.
Rifle hosts NCAA Qualifier
Men's tennis at ITA National Indoor Championships (Seattle, Wash.)

Men's basketball
- Following its most complete victory of the season within SEC action, the Wildcats conclude its two-game road swing through the Heart of Dixie at Alabama on Tuesday.
- Sophomore Kyle Wiltjer turned in another 17-point performance, while classmate Ryan Harrow reached double figures for the eighth straight game and dished out a UK career-high eight assists in the win. Freshman Nerlens Noel continued his imposing defensive prowess with a career-high seven blocks to couple with 10 points and nine rebounds.
- Alabama enters the matchup following a one-point victory over Texas A&M on Saturday. The Anthony Grant-led Crimson Tide are 11-6 overall on the season and own a 3-1 record within SEC play.

Women's basketball
- No. 5 Kentucky improved to 18-1 overall, 6-0 in the SEC with commanding wins over Mississippi State and Auburn last week in Memorial Coliseum. The Cats are now riding a school-record 33-game home winning streak and the nation's longest overall winning streak at 17.
- The 100-47 win over Mississippi State was the largest margin of victory over an SEC opponent in school history. Junior center DeNesha Stallworth led four players in double digits with a UK career-high 25 points in just 24 minutes of action. Senior All-America candidate A'dia Mathies followed with 21 points. UK forced 25 turnovers and won the rebounding battle 46-20.
- In UK's "We Back Pat" game vs. Auburn, defense was again the name of the game. The Wildcats held the Tigers to just 21 first half points, taking a 51-21 lead at the break. Mathies led the way with 16 points in the opening stanza. She went on to notch her second straight 20-point game with a season-high 24 points on a near perfect shooting night. Mathies hit 8-of-9 from the field, including 5-of-6 from the 3-point line and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.

Gymnastics
- The No. 14 University of Kentucky gymnastics team defeated No. 9 Arkansas in convincing fashion in front of more than 5,600 fans inside Memorial Coliseum on Friday.
- The Wildcats took the meet 195.5-193.075 while winning every team and individual event.
- The Wildcats continued the unprecedented start to the season as Friday's win gave the program back-to-back SEC wins for the first time ever. All four wins this season have come against higher-ranked opponents.
- Kentucky is off to the best start in school history as the Wildcats have never before topped 195 in all three meets to begin the season.
- Audrey Harrison stole the Excite Night at the Kentucky Classic show winning the individual all-around competition for the second consecutive week. The Knoxville, Tenn., native's season high 39.275 was highlighted by her 9.9 to anchor on uneven bars with a score, which ties for her career high.
- Harrison won individual titles on bars and floor exercise (9.85). The junior now has four event titles this year and 11 all-time.

Rifle
- Kentucky knocked off two top-15 teams over the weekend in Oxford, Miss., defeating No. 11 Ole Miss (4670 - 4611) on Saturday and No. 10 Memphis (4646 - 4598) on Sunday.
- Senior Heather Greathouse led the Wildcats in their win over Ole Miss, shooting an 1176 aggregate score. Freshman Connor Davis delivered a 594 in air rifle.
- Senior Ed Ryznar had a strong showing in Kentucky's win over Memphis, shooting a 574 in smallbore and 588 in air rifle.
- Sophomore Cody Manning recorded a new personal best aggregate score of 1162 in Sunday's match with Memphis.

Men's tennis
- The Kentucky men's tennis team got off to a 2-0 start to the 2013 season with two 7-0 wins over Northern Kentucky and Morehead State.
- The pair of wins were the first in the head coaching career of Cedric Kauffmann.
- No. 15 Tom Jomby and No. 94 Anthony Rossi each earned singles wins on Sunday, while Jomby and Kevin Lai went 2-0 on the day in doubles.
- UK next takes to the court on Wednesday at No. 22 Indiana in Bloomington for the Wildcats first of 15 matches versus ranked teams in 2013.

Women's tennis
- The Kentucky women's tennis team opened the 2013 season with two dominating wins, defeating Morehead State 7-0 and Belmont 6-1 on Saturday.
- Freshman Nadia Ravita opened her collegiate career with two singles wins in the No. 1 spot and two doubles wins paired with junior Caitlin McGraw in the No. 1 doubles slot.
- Sophomore Stephanie Fox failed to drop a set in two singles wins on Saturday, taking both contests 6-0, 6-0.

Upcoming schedule

Tuesday, Jan. 22
Men's basketball at Alabama  - 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 23
Men's tennis at Indiana - 2:00 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 24
Women's basketball at South Carolina - 7:00 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 25
Track and field hosts Rod McCravy Memorial - 10:00 a.m.
Men's tennis hosts Michigan State - 1:00 p.m.
Gymnastics at Alabama - 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 26
Track and field hosts Rod McCravy Memorial - 10:00 a.m.
Swimming and diving host Louisville - 12:30 p.m.
Men's basketball hosts LSU - 4:00 p.m.
Men's tennis hosts Texas/South Carolina

Sunday, Jan. 27
Women's basketball hosts LSU - 3:00 p.m.

Carlos Drada is a better tennis coach coming off of a 9-14 season than he was when he last brought his team to the NCAA Tournament in 2009. When Drada took over the women's tennis program at UK seven seasons ago in 2006, he had inherited a Sweet 16 team.

Fast forward to 2013, and Drada is just looking to get his team back into a competitive realm in the Southeastern Conference.

Drada had known nothing but success for his program after spending four years as a UK assistant and reaching five consecutive Sweet 16s. However, after his first four seasons, the program suffered a stretch of setbacks

"It was basically three injuries we had in 2009 and 2010, and they were career-ending injuries," said Drada. "Usually you have one of those every five years, but to have three in a year and a half is just devastating, especially when the players were top of the line."

With the struggles came some transfers out of the program. Drada and his staff were faced with the challenge of bringing in young talent to fill some holes in the program. It's been a gradual rebuilding process up to this point.

The top players lost to injury or transfer were upperclassmen and players that were expected to be leaders to show the younger players the ropes. With them gone, the freshmen and sophomores were placed in the tough position to figure things out on their own at practice and during competition.

This season, Drada is stressing to his team to give "100 percent effort 100 percent of the time." In fact, that's been the Wildcats' motto this season both on and off the court. Teaching freshmen to give that type of effort is a lot more difficult when there aren't others to show them the way.

"When you are a young freshman, you learn by example," said Drada. "You learn from your upperclassmen doing it. When there aren't a lot of upperclassmen doing it, then it's harder than when the majority is. At one point, we had five freshmen, so it was very tough to make that transition."

This season, however, two freshmen could be the key to this season's success. Kirsten Lewis and Nadia Ravita are expected to make a big impact in the starting lineup. Ravita is the highest nationally ranked player on the team at No. 78 joining 117th-ranked junior Caitlin McGraw as the only ranked Wildcats this season. It's the first time that Kentucky has had two ranked players in the lineup since 2006.

That season, Kentucky reached the SEC Tournament final.

Though the freshmen have been impressive in their brief time at Kentucky and performed well in the fall, it remains to be seen just how effective they will be when it comes to team competition.

"I'm just very interested in seeing how our freshmen are going to be able to compete at a different venue," said Drada. "All they've competed in is individual tournaments, so I'm interested to see how they handle that pressure."

Their first challenge comes this weekend in a Saturday doubleheader at the Boone Tennis Center when UK hosts Morehead State and Belmont. But there will be several more difficult challenges, not only for the freshmen, but the collective team down the road.

The SEC boasts six top-25 teams, including three top-10 squads. It has seen the competition level continue to rise year after year. Kentucky's biggest challenge is keeping up with the times while trying to stay competitive in the conference.

Last season, UK only managed one victory in the SEC. The Wildcats were competitive in several of those matches, but time after time they had trouble sealing the deal in the end. Drada's goal is to be at least a .500 team in the conference and go from there.

"We're going to start with that," said Drada. "More than that, I want my players to compete on every court. If they do that, they are capable of beating 70 to 80 percent of the players they play against. But it has to be pure competition every day that they go out there."

Drada has learned more about himself in defeat than he ever had in victory. He has learned more about himself as a person. It's made him better.

"The beautiful thing is that it has allowed me to learn a lot of things about coaching, adversity and having to come back," said Drada. "What I know is that has given me a better understanding of being in the top of the nation and having a high ranking."

Now, Drada feels that he's rebuilt his program with the type of people and competitors that he knows can make a difference for this team. Slowly but surely, Drada hopes to turn the page on the last three years to restore his program to where it was during his first four years on the job.

"The good thing now is that I know exactly what I want and what I do not want," said Drada. "We keep looking for the players that we want to bring into this team and the players who have a better affinity to meet the standards we try to reach each day. We're hoping that by following these standards, 10 years from now they are going to be better at whatever they are doing at that time."

Drada knows that because this program has had plenty of success in the last decade - success that he's helped produce and seen with his own eyes - Kentucky can reach that level again. He knows the Cats have all the tools they need to win at their disposal.

Now, it's time to put it all together and win some matches. Kentucky feels that it's better at every position than it was heading into 2012. The Cats will get an early indication if that's the case this Saturday. Either way, Drada is confident in the future of his program.

"As the level of the SEC has risen, it's tough to maintain that standard, but I know we're going to get there," said Drada. "We're doing really well. Now we know exactly what we need and what we want for this program.

"We're doing a great job in recruiting and it's going to show in the years to follow."

Football
- The UK defense continued to improve, limiting Missouri to 273 yards of total offense which was the lowest number of yards UK has allowed all season.
- The Wildcat defense also created a season-high three turnovers in the game, getting two interceptions and a fumble recovery. J.D. Harmon was impressive in the effort for Kentucky, earning a career-best seven tackles on top of the two interceptions.

Volleyball
- Senior setter Christine Hartmann narrowly missed out on a triple-double with nine kills, 52 assists and 11 digs against Tennessee. She directed four players to 10 or more kills in the match including 19 on a .472 hitting clip from senior Ashley Frazier.
- With 21 digs against UT, senior Stephanie Klefot moved into sole possession of fourth place on the SEC all-time career digs leader list.
- In the victory over Georgia, UK saw Hartmann lead the defensive effort with a career-high 19 digs. She passed out 58 assists and again found four players for 10 or more kills.
- Freshman Sara Schwarzwalder led the defensive effort for the weekend with team-highs in blocks in both matches including matching a career-high eight in the victory against the Bulldogs.

Women's soccer
- UK's eight SEC wins marks the most conference wins for the Wildcats since the 1999 season. It ties a program record for most SEC wins in a season.
- The Wildcats have shut out four of the last five opponents they have faced, as goalkeeper Kayla King has only allowed one goal in the last 422 minutes of action in the net.
- UK finishes the season having six different freshmen score a goal, as the class accounted for more than 30 points on the season.

Men's soccer
- Jack Van Arsdale notched his fourth shutout of the year and UK got splendid play from defenders Steven Perinovic, Jacob Kemper, Jacob Speed and Isak Krogstad in a win at No. 23 Tulsa.
- UK has improved to 6-2 on the road in 2012, with the Wildcats tied for the second-most road wins in the NCAA entering the Saturday win.

Rifle
- The No. 2 University of Kentucky rifle team defeated No. 15 Tennessee-Martin 4656 - 4577 Sunday in Barker Hall.
- Freshman Connor Davis led the Wildcats with an aggregate score of 1170.
- Junior Aaron Holsopple finished with a match high in smallbore, shooting a 582.

Women's soccer
- Senior Jessica Stiles finished the weekend 3-0 in singles play and 2-1 in doubles. Stiles' play left her in second for singles champion, one point off first.
- Junior Khristina Blajkevitch capped off a perfect singles weekend with a 6-1, 6-1 win on Sunday.

Cross country
- Cally Macumber achieved a feat no other University of Kentucky Wildcat had accomplished in 23 years when she won the SEC Cross Country Championship by a four-second margin with a time of 20:23.29 in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday.
- The UK women placed fifth overall, while the men finished sixth.
- Luis Orta was the first Wildcat to finish on the men's side in 24:10.83 over 8K.
- Three Wildcats earned spots on the All-SEC teams by virtue of their performances at the Conference meet as Macumber and Oswald were named to the First Team, while Orta made the Second Team.
- Macumber and Oswald each received All-SEC honors for the second time in their careers. Orta, a senior, reached All-Conference status for the third time.

Swimming and diving
- The Kentucky men and women's swimming teams picked up their first wins of the season against Southern Illinois in a tri-meet.
- Kentucky's men were led by sophomore Lucas Gerotto who picked up his second victory in the 100-butterfly (49.70) and took third in the 50-freestyle (21.15). The men also earned their first relay victory of the season in the 4x100-freestyle as Chris Lott, Will Heidler, Gerotto and Chris Thomas combined for the winning time of 3:05.62.The women pulled out two wins with senior Mandy Myers taking home first in the 100-buttefly with a time of 55.53. Sophomore Christina Bechtel earned her first win of the season as well with a win in the 200-butterfly with the winning time of 66.10.

Upcoming schedule

Monday, Oct. 29
Women's golf at Alamo Invitational (San Antonio, Texas)

Tuesday, Oct. 30
Women's golf at Alamo Invitational (San Antonio, Texas)

Wednesday, Oct. 31
Women's soccer vs. Missouri (Orange Beach, Ala.) - 8:30 p.m.
Men's soccer hosts UCF - 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 1
Men's basketball hosts Northwood - 7:00 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 2
Volleyball hosts Ole Miss - 7:00 p.m.
Men's tennis at Collegiate Clay Court Tournament (Orlando, Fla.)
Swimming and diving hosts Auburn - 2:00 p.m.
Women's soccer SEC Tournament Semifinals (Orange Beach, Ala.) - TBA

Saturday, Nov. 3
Men's tennis at Collegiate Clay Court Tournament (Orlando, Fla.)
Rifle at North Carolina State
Football hosts Vanderbilt - 12:00 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 4
Volleyball hosts South Carolina - 1:30 p.m.
Men's tennis at Collegiate Clay Court Tournament (Orlando, Fla.)
Men's soccer hosts South Carolina - 1:00 p.m.
Women's soccer SEC Tournament Championship (Orange Beach, Ala.) • TBA