Feb. 14, 2003

The 11th-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team will travel 75 miles west Saturday for a clash with No. 31 Louisville. The match is set to begin at 11 a.m. at the Louisville Tennis Club.

Kentucky had little trouble dispatching the Cardinals in their last meeting, as the Wildcats shut out Louisville, 7-0. However, Kentucky Coach Dennis Emery doesn’t expect such an easy victory this time around.

“Louisville probably has its best team ever this season. They beat 13th-ranked Tennessee in Knoxville and they’ve been gathering momentum ever since. This is a big match for both teams,” Emery said.

Kentucky welcomes the return of fourth-ranked sophomore Jesse Witten this weekend. Witten, the 2002 NCAA runner-up, last competed Feb. 1 in Kentucky’s regular-season opener at Minnesota. He has spent the past two weeks preparing for what is expected to be a challenging spring schedule.

The Wildcats (4-1) are returning to action after a convincing doubleheader sweep of Appalachian State and Murray State Wednesday in Lexington. Freshman Alex Hume, sophomores Evan Austin and Tim Morgan, junior Karim Benmansour and senior Elliott Datlow all took home a pair of victories against the Mountaineers and Racers.

After Saturday’s match, Kentucky will take on top-ranked UCLA at the Louisville Tennis Club on Tuesday before playing host to the 2003 USTA/ITA National Indoor Team Championships Feb. 20-23, also at the Louisville Tennis Club.