The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team will open up the spring slate of it’s 2000-01 schedule on Thursday, Jan. 18, when itbegins play in the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in Norcross, Ga.

Six Wildcats are scheduled to participate, including senior Edo Bawono, juniors Johan Grunditz, Gustav Pousette and RevenStephens and freshmen Rahim Esmail and Karim Benmansour. It will be the first collegiate competition for Esmail and Benmansour,who joined the Cats this month.

Bawono will see tough early action as he faces seeded-opponent Tiago Ruffoni of Auburn. Esmail will face Conor Casey of OleMiss, while Grunditz takes on LSU’s Daniel Kierman in morning action. Stephens opens spring play against Brad Berry of Arkansas,and Pousette faces Tennessee’s Adam Carey. Rounding out the Cats’ opening round of competition is Benmansour, who will take onPatrick Chucri of Ole Miss. The round of 64 gets under way at 9 a.m.

The squad will also compete in doubles beginning Thursday as Benmansour and Esmail team up to face Rene Combette andJerome Le Belicard from Mississippi State, while Bawono and Stephens renew their fall doubles pairing to battle MSU’s Marco Baronand David Ruiz. Grunditz and Pousette comprise the Cats’ final doubles tandem and are slated to face another Bulldog duo in LuizCarvalho and Max Fohime.

“We’re obviously very excited to get back into competition with some new faces on our squad,” Coach Dennis Emery said. “Thiswill really give us the opportunity to get a feel for our new guys, and it will allow us to face some tough competition to gauge ourprogress as a team.”

The tournament runs through Sunday, with two rounds each on Friday and Saturday leading up to the finals.

Other members of the Kentucky team will be competing in an invitational tournament hosted by UK. Kentucky Winterslam 2001 will takeplace Saturday, Jan. 20, and Sunday, Jan. 21, at the Boone Indoor Tennis Center. Sophomores Elliot Datlow and Todd Scheck joinfreshman Justin Kinney in action for UK. Other schools competing include DePaul, Ohio State, Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State.

Competition gets underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday.