Fact Sheet 9

Lady’Back Recap: The University of Arkansas women’s tennis team captured their fourth Southeastern Conference win of the season in dramatic fashion on Saturday, April 14, against LSU. With the match tied 3-3 against the #29 Tigers, Nanar Airapetian was down 3-1 in the third set before rattling off five straight games to give herself, and the Lady’Backs, the Saturday win. With the win, Arkansas sits 10-10 overall and 4-7 in SEC play.

Tournament Time: The Lady’Backs are set for midweek travel plans that take them to Lexington, Kentucky on Wednesday or the 2007 SEC Tournament. As the ninth seed, Arkansas squares off against the eighth-seeded Auburn Tigers on Thursday, April 19, at 1:00 p.m. A first round win for the Lady’Backs would put them against the top-seeded Georgia Bulldogs on Friday at 1:00 p.m.

Big win: After opening the season with a 5-2 win over the 37th ranked Wolfpack of North Carolina State, the Lady’Backs finished the 2007 season with an even better note this weekend against the 33rd-ranked LSU Tigers. This weekend’s win over the No. 33 Tigers is the biggest victory for the Lady’Backs under head coach Michael Hegarty. Moreover, Saturday’s win is the biggest win for the program since Arkansas defeated a 29th-ranked Ole Miss team in 2001.

Tournament Information: Thursday’s opening round match against Auburn marks only the second time Arkansas matched up against the Tigers in conference play. The last time came in the Lady’Backs’ second year in the SEC in 1993, although the outcome weighed heavily in Auburn’s favor, 6-1. In fact, Auburn is the only other Western Division team Arkansas has faced in the tournament besides LSU, which the Lady’Backs have played five times, and Alabama, which Arkansas has played just once in 1998.

Hero Spotlight: Nanar Airapetian: Airapetian closed her first season with the Lady’Backs with an 18-13 singles record, which was boosted by four wins in her last six matches played. In doubles, Airapetian is 24-9 paired with junior Maryori Franco as the 43rd ranked doubles team in the country. The two Lady’Backs have won their last five matches in a row together, which included upset wins over #20 Alex Haney and Melissa Koning of Auburn and #36 Mykala Hedberg and Megan Falcon of LSU.

Download: Notes 4-17.pdf