Last season, the women’s tennis team finished fifth in the Big 12 under the leadership of the team’s three seniors, the Jayhawks’ best closing since 2002.

This season, senior duo Edina Horvath and Yuliana Svistun hope to provide the same guidance to their younger teammates. Horvath and Svistun will lead one junior, three sophomores and four freshmen.

“They are really trying to push the younger players,” said coach Amy Hall-Holt. “They were very excited about the way they performed last spring, and they know they can continue on that high level.”

The Jayhawks open the 2009 season at 11 a.m. on Saturday against the University of Texas at El Paso at First Serve Tennis, followed by two matches on Sunday against Drake and St. Louis University.

Based off of last season’s performances, Kansas’ young players are in good hands. Horvath was the team’s top singles player, with 12 dual victories. Svistun finished with 10 victories, tied with Kunigunda Dorn and Lauren Hommell. In doubles, Horvath and Elizaveta Avdeeva finished with a 13-9 record.

The strength of the Jayhawks’ doubles team will be on display this weekend. The new combinations of Horvath and Dorn (3-1), Maria Martinez and Erin Wilbert (4-2) and Svistun and Ekaterina Morozova (6-2) all had winning seasons last fall.

“If you put anybody on the team together, they’d get along,” Hall-Holt said. “The team unity is so high. I’ve never seen the unity of a team this passionate before.”

The next several months will have the Jayhawks facing a seemingly endless list of high-ranked opponents. The Big 12 is one of college tennis’s toughest conferences, led by No. 16 Texas and 2008 conference champion No. 4 Baylor. The Jayhawks were ranked 73rd in the ITA’s preseason poll. The University of Oklahoma will host the Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla. this year. Hall-Holt was proud of the team’s 5-6 match record last season, and she recognizes that this season will be equally, if not more, challenging.

“We have a very strong conference, straight across the board,” Hall-Holt said. “It’s tough, but there is nothing holding us back right now, including injuries. We play a lot of tough schools, and it seems like every year you turn around and everybody is getting better and better. And that’s our goal – every time we step out onto the court, we’ve got to continue to get better.”

Although the Big 12 conference’s marquee teams reside south of Lawrence, Kansas’ players have their aim set on a team located to the east.

“We look forward to playing all conference teams, but I think one of the big matches that the girls are set on is, of course, Missouri,” Hall-Holt said. “Last year’s match was a tight one, and we should have won that.”

The Jayhawks will play Missouri at home on March 22.