LEXINGTON ? The 19th-ranked Kentucky women?s tennis team kicks off the 2007 season on Saturday with a pair of matches against East Tennessee State and Murray State at the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex.

The opening match against ETSU is slated for Noon with the Wildcats squaring off with the Racers at 6 p.m.

The Wildcats are coming off their fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships round of 16 and a third place finish in the rugged Southeastern Conference.

?We are excited to face two tough opponents tomorrow,? Kentucky head coach Carlos Drada said. ?We will play these matches with a lot of intensity and attention to detail. Our players have been working with discipline and I am excited to see how the girls fare.?

Nearly everyone is back from last year?s squad, led by seniors Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk. The duo won the ITA Southeast Regional and is ranked third nationally entering the season. Schwenk also holds down a No. 60 national ranking in singles after going 10-4 in the fall.

The matches will mark the first dual meet action for a trio of freshmen: Sarah Woestmann, Christine Johnston and Whitney Spencer. Johnston and Spencer tied Schwenk for the team lead in fall wins with 10 while Woestmann just enrolled this semester.