The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Pardis Kianoush Earns ITA National Singles Ranking
2/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
TEMPE, Ariz. – UAB women’s tennis senior Pardis Kianoush is ranked 88th overall in this week’s Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis National Singles Poll.
Kianoush plays No. 1 for UAB and has registered a 2-2 overall record this season in dual matches, which includes a victory over No. 73 Viktoriya Dzyuba of Lipscomb in the opening match of the spring season.
“We are all very proud and happy for Pardis,” UAB head coach Mark Tjia said. “I knew the way she has been playing this year would allow the possibility she could get ranked. She has worked so hard to overcome injuries and has also worked at getting stronger mentally.
“This is definitely an accomplishment that Pardis can be proud of, and hopefully some of our other players will start to believe they can make it there too. This is definitely a feather in the cap for both her and our team, an accomplishment that we can all build on.”
Kianoush becomes the first Blazer since Mirela Vladulescu in 2001 to be ranked.
“I am very excited to have gotten into the rankings this week,” Kianoush said. “It has been a goal of mine for a while now, so it feels good to have accomplished it after a few years of feeling like I was right there. I started this season off with a little bit of a different determination than in previous year, which has partly come from experience, but mostly from trusting the work we have put in.
“It was really important to me to get ranked because I wanted some of the younger girls on the team to see that it is very attainable, and there is no reason we can’t be right up there with everyone else. Hopefully this will push them to aim higher and it won’t be long before we are all regularly in the rankings.”
Kianoush and the Blazers return to action Thursday at 1:30 against Samford.
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