Final ranking of 14th for Lady'Back tennis

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s tennis team closed the books on its greatest single season with a final ranking of 14th in the ITA computer rankings and all-America honors for junior Aurelija Miseviciute.

Miseviciute’s run to the NCAA quarterfinals earned her USTA All-America honors, the first for the Lady Razorbacks since Chin Bee Khoo in 2001.

Coming on the heels of the best team finish in school history in the NCAA quarterfinals, Arkansas earned the right to host opening round matches in next season’s ITA “Kick-Off” Weekend.

The National Indoor Team Championship expands for 2009 to 64 teams, and will follow a format similar to the NCAA team tournament. The top 16 teams in the final spring ITA rankings will host first and second round indoor matches.

Returning most of the lineup that carried Arkansas to a first-ever Southeastern Conference Western Division title, Hegarty’s team awaits the results of the ITA’s draft to learn who Arkansas hosts next spring.

The ranking and all-America honor cap a season of outstanding individual accomplishments, notably for Miseviciute.

She is one of four athletes on the ballot for the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards sponsored by Honda. One of the longest running award programs in women’s sports, the program honors the top individual athlete in each major collegiate sport. The winners of the individual sports then vie for the overall athlete of the year. Miseviciute’s “final four” singles performance gave her 52 match victories for the season, the most in UA athletic history – male or female.

The nation’s No. 1 ranked singles player, Miseviciute won the ITA Indoor Singles Title during the fall portion of the season.

In addition to her selection as one of the four ballot finalists, Miseviciute is honored by American Honda Motor Company with a $1,000 donation to the women’s athletic fund at Arkansas.