Dec. 8, 1999

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky men?s tennis team will begin the 2000 spring season ranked No. 19 in the nation, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced on Tuesday.

While the Cats return five of their top six players from the ?98-99 that finished the season with a 17-10 record, a No. 12 national ranking and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament?s Round of 16, the team fell in the national rankings due in large part to a mediocre fall season.

“Of course we were disappointed to go down in the rankings after losing only one singles starter, but it is only the preseason and with our difficult schedule we will have plenty of opportunities to see how good we are,” Head Coach Dennis Emery said.

The difficult 2000 schedule for UK includes dual matches against 17 teams ranked in the top 40 of Tuesday?s preseason rankings. That includes matches with top-ranked UCLA and six other top-ten opponents. Of the Wildcats? 21 dual matches this spring, only two are against teams not found in the preseason top 51.

Despite UK?s lower than expected ranking, Southeastern Conference teams dominated the rankings. The SEC placed five teams in the top 10 and nine in the top 25. Louisiana State, the defending SEC champs, received the highest ranking at No. 2. That was just ahead of Florida (No. 5), Ole Miss (No. 6), defending NCAA champions Georgia (No. 8) and Tennessee (No. 9).

The Cats will square off against those top SEC programs to begin the spring season when they compete in the SEC Indoor Championships, January 20-22, at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.