Cats Take on East Tennessee State and William & Mary at Neutral Site

(Jan. 26, 2001) — The University of Kentucky men’s tennis team will open dual match play on Saturday, January 27, as it travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on William & Mary at 9 a.m., and East Tennessee State at 4:30 p.m.

This marks the first team event of the 2000-01 season for the Wildcats, who are coming off a disappointing 12-15 mark in 2000.

The Cats are led by senior Edo Bawono, who compiled a 13-2 fall record, including an 11-0 run to start his final year at UK.

“We’re really looking forward to starting the 2001 season this weekend,” said Coach Dennis Emery, who’s starting his 19th season coaching the Wildcats. “These two matches will give us the opportunity to evaluate our newcomers, and it will give us a more sound idea of how our lineup will shape up for conference play.”

New to the Kentucky squad this season is sophomore Todd Scheck and freshmen Karim Benmansour, Matt Emery, Rahim Esmail and Justin Kinney. Emery, son of coach Dennis Emery, joins the squad as one of the youngest Cats in school history after passing up his senior year of high school tennis to enroll at UK this spring and join the team. Emery enjoyed a successful career as a junior, playing in all four Grand Slam events last year.

Kentucky will open its home schedule on Valentine’s Day, Wednesday, Feb. 14, when it plays host to the Ohio State Buckeyes.