Jan. 13, 2003

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association released its national rankings Monday and several Kentucky players were listed among the women’s rankings.

After entering the season at No. 39, senior Sarah Witten climbed two spots in the standings to No. 37. Witten finished the fall season with a record of 9-4 and reached the semifinals of three of her four tournaments.

Joining Witten in the top 50 is freshman standout Nathalie Roels at No. 48. Roels ended her fall season with a trip to the semifinals of the ITA/Southeast Regional Championship in Winston-Salem, N.C. Her impressive 13-5 record included wins over 43rd-ranked Silvia Tornier of San Diego State and 28th-ranked Julie DeRoo from Duke.

In doubles, Witten and Roels climbed 12 spots to No. 10 after posting a 12-4 record that included four wins over top-20 competition. The biggest win came against the No. 1-ranked tandem of Sarah Riske and Aleke Tsoubanos from Vanderbilt.

Making an even bigger jump in the rankings was the senior duo of Jill Buckley and Amy Trefethen. Buckley and Trefethen began the fall at No. 41 and open the spring season at No. 17. The tandem posted a 10-4 record, which included winning the ITA/Southeast Regional Doubles Championship.

As a team Kentucky is ranked No. 14. The Cats will begin dual-match play on Jan. 25 when they travel to Huntington, W.Va., to play Marshall and Virginia.