HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team returns to the UH Tennis Complex this week to host a tough slate to continue a string of ranked opponents. The `Bows have a busy week ahead first taking on No. 29 Kentucky on Tuesday, January 13 at 3:00 p.m. The 'Bows will then take on No. 25 Ole Miss on Friday, January 16 and on Sunday January 18 vs. No. 43 Washington.

Last week, Hawai'i hosted the Rainbow Wahine Spring Invitational at the Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch which featured No. 2 Duke and No. 7 California. The Rainbow Wahine struggled but had some strong matches. Martina Kostalova defeated California's Lyann Hoang, 7-6 (4), 6-2 while in doubles Viktoria Malova and Paulina Petriskova knocked off Cal's Karla Popvic and Stephanie Lin, 6-4 on the opening day. On day two, Hawai'I's Cindy Nguyen took No. 87 Ester Goldfeld from Duke to three sets, but falling 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Malova battled the Golden Bears' Klara Fabikova pushing the first set to a 7-5 score but falling in the second, 6-2 and UH's Rebecca Faltusz fought hard against Cal's Stephanie Lin, 6-1, 7-6 (8).
 
No. 29 Kentucky advanced to the 2014 NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009. The Wildcats advanced to the second round and three players competed in the NCAA Individual Championships. This past fall, Kentucky's doubles team nadia Ravita and Aldila Sutjiadi is ranked No. 19 after defeating Vanderbilt, 6-2, 7-5 to capture the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships in Knoxville, Tenn.,
 
No. 25 Ole Miss comes to Honolulu at No. 25 in the opening Intercollegiate Tennis Association's first rankings of the year. Two Rebels are in the top 35 in singles with senior Julia Jones ranked No. 20 in the nation after posting a 10-3 record in the fall, which included capturing the ITA Southern Regional Championship with seven wins over ranked opponents. No. 33 Arianne Hartono went 9-4 in the fall and won the Country Club of Little Rock Invitational this past fall. Hartono and partner junior Mai El Kamash are ranked No. 45 in doubles, while freshman Natalie Suk and sophomore Zalina Khairudinova are ranked No. 56.
 
No. 43 Washington opened the 2015 season last week with a sweep over Seattle. Junior Elianne Douglas-Miron begins 2015 at No. 90 in the ITA rankings. The Huskies are led by first year head coach Robin Stephenson. UW returns seniors Riko Shimizu, Julija Lukac and Natalie Allen with freshman Miki Kobayashi.