Jan. 18, 2000

The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team kicks off its spring season this week when the Cats head off for the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The tournament runs from Jan. 20-22, and pits players from all 12 SEC schools – all of which are among the nation’s top 40 college teams – against one another.

Several members of the Cats, who begin the season as the No. 19 team in the nation, participated in the 24th Annual National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Thousand Oaks, Calif. in preparation for the start of the 2000 season.

Carlos Drada, the 9th ranked player in the nation, newcomer Jorge Mario Escallon and Reven Stephens all competed for the Cats in the tournament held at the prestigious Sherwood Club. Drada, UK’s top player, won his first round match over UCLA’s Jong-Minh Lee 6-3, 6-3, but fell in the second 6-0, 6-1 to Cary Franklin of Illinois. Escallon, in his first match as a Wildcat, was handed an opening round loss to Geoff Abrams of Stanford 6-1, 6-0. Stephens, returning from a broken hand suffered this fall, also fell in the first round, dropping his match to Erfan Djhangiri of UCLA 6-2, 7-5.