All-America honors No. 13 ranked for Strode

COLLEGE STATION, Texas. –University of Arkansas men’s tennis player, Blake Strode has been named to the ITA All-America team, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced. Strode is also ranked the No. 13 singles player in the nation in the final 2008-09 poll put out by the ITA, tying his career best ranking.

A semifinalist at this year’s NCAA Singles Championship, Strode (27-12) finished his Razorback career with 97 singles victories, fifth most in Arkansas history.

In four seasons at Arkansas, Strode earned three All-Southeastern Conference honors along with numerous academic honors, including two-time SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and three ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors. This year, Strode was the runner up for the prestigious Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship and was a finalist for the H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

Earning recognition for his sportsmanship as well as his athletic and academic abilities, Strode was named the recipient of the ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership & Sportsmanship earlier this month as well as the central region recipient of the ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award.

A recent graduate of the University of Arkansas, Strode earned a double major in international economics and Spanish, maintaining a 3.976 grade-point average. He is planning on attending Harvard Law School after pursuing a tennis career for the next year.

Strode will begin his professional tennis career in June, playing on the International Tennis Federation Futures circuit.

For complete coverage of Arkansas men’s tennis, log on to www.ArkansasRazorbacks.com.