CollegeSports.com, NY
April 29 2005

Coming to America was a ‘culture shock’ to a few Cats

By Jennifer Jones Kentucky Kernel
Lexington, KY (U-WIRE) — Word definitely travels far.

Over the years, UK tennis players have carried the school’s
reputation across the world. And it is paying off now.

Diversity has become a major contribution to the men’s and women’s
tennis teams’ recent success, as there are now five international
players on the tennis team from all over the world.

UK men’s tennis head coach Dennis Emery said past tennis players
recommended the international players to him.

“I heard about them through word of mouth, followed them up, and
pursued them,” he said.

And he managed to persuade many to come to Lexington.

“They have filled some holes and made the team deeper,” he said.

Tigran Martirosyan is a senior from Yereven, Armenia, who transferred
from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He came to UK
because of the competitiveness of the Southeastern Conference and
because UK provides a good level of athletics.

“I wanted a successful career and to better my tennis skills,” he
said.

Martirosyan almost went to USC, but his coach from Loyola suggested
UK because of our facilities, academics and coaches.

“Moving to Kentucky was a culture shock for me. There was an Armenian
culture in Los Angeles, so I felt comfortable there,” he said.

Martirosyan also said that the move was nothing too big to overcome,
and he is glad he came for the experience.

This season, Martirosyan has teamed with doubles partner Jesse
Witten, and the two have been ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation
by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He and Witten knocked off
three top-10 opponents in the same week earlier this season.

Marcus Sundh, a freshman from Stockholm, Sweden, came to UK because
it is a good school for athletics and academics. He was offered other
scholarships to Utah and to Southern Methodist University in Dallas,
but Emery talked him into coming to Lexington.”The transition was not
too difficult because I left my family when I was sixteen to go to
tennis school, and I do get to go home for the summer,” Sundh said.

Aibika Kalsarieva, a senior from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, led the UK
women’s tennis team to its first SEC Championship this season. She
has also been named the school’s first SEC Player of the Year.

She said it was UK head coach Mark Guilbeau that drew her to campus.
He stayed interested in her while others turned away, and it got her
attention.

When she finally cleared all the academic hurdles to enroll in a
Division I school, he still wanted her, and she listened.

Kalsarieva said Guilbeau has been a positive influence, as he has
pushed her more than any other she has had in the past.

She has not been back to Kyrgyzstan since she came to America in
2000, and she said she still misses it.

Two other international players on the women’s team are Liis Sober, a
sophomore from Tallinn, Estonia, and Kim Coventry, a sophomore from
Melbourne, Australia.

Coventry came to UK because of the coaching staff, and because she
wanted to play on a team that had the potential to be in the top 10
in the nation.

“It was a difficult transition moving here, but I have great support
from my teammates and coaches, and I’m really enjoying it now,”
Coventry said.