RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men's tennis team opens its indoor schedule Thursday evening at Kentucky. Match time is set for 5 p.m.
 
The Colonels are a fairly young team with seven of the 11 players on the roster either sophomores or freshmen. Sophomore Sebastian Mueller led EKU with six wins in the fall tournament season.
 
Meanwhile, the top three spots in the line-up will likely be filled by seniors Juanjo de la Llera and Daridge Saidi as well as junior Alex Álvaro. Those three players rotated between the top three spots last spring. Álvaro earned second team All-OVC accolades after going 6-3 against league competition one year ago.
 
Kentucky is ranked No. 18 in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll. The Wildcats will be filling the shoes of five seniors, including four players who were regularly in the starting six of singles, and three in the starting doubles lineup from a year ago, which finished in the top 16 of the rankings for a fifth straight season.
 
Eastern Kentucky's first home indoor match is scheduled for next Friday, Jan. 23 against Dayton.