Razorbacks head to CCLR Invitational

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The University of Arkansas women's tennis team will be competing across the state this weekend, heading to Little Rock for the inaugural Country Club of Little Rock Invitational. The event marks the first tournament of the fall season, and all six players on the Arkansas roster will travel to the event. The CCLR Invitational is in its inaugural year, and will be hosted by the Country Club of Little Rock. Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech will also send players to the individually flighted event.

"We're really excited to get started with the whole team this weekend," head coach Michael Hegarty explained. "With such a large group of incoming players this year, it's going to be fun to go out there and start getting tested right away. We're competing against three really high quality programs that are all doing extremely well right now, so it will be fun for us to test our young players, especially against some very high quality opposition."

Senior Claudine Paulson will be the sole returner for the Arkansas squad at the event. Last year, Paulson finished the season with an overall 16-17 record in singles. She spent the entire season playing at the No. 1 position in doubles, and owns a career doubles record of 66-39 at Arkansas.

The CCLR Invitational will be the Arkansas debut of sophomore Sarah McLean, who transferred to Arkansas from Florida International. Freshmen Kimberley - Ann Surin, Ana Lorena Belmar Hernandez, Yang Pang, and Kristen Mee will be making their collegiate debuts.

"I know that everyone will get a great opportunity to test themselves this week," Coach Hegarty said. "We have a lot of new talent around, so I'm excited to have that talent have a chance to blossom. It's a great opportunity to go out there and prove themselves."

Each player will compete in one singles match and one doubles match each day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Razorbacks will play doubles in the morning beginning at 10 a.m. CST and singles in the afternoon.