Golden Hurricane in Forecast for Lady'Back Tennis

Fayetteville— After opening the 2005 spring season with three shutout matches at home, the 65th ranked University of Arkansas women’s tennis team goes on the road this weekend to face the 46th ranked University of Tulsa Friday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at 6:00 p.m. Until recent years, the Lady Razorbacks enjoyed an unblemished 17-0 record against Tulsa. However, The Golden Hurricane has had the upper hand in the series the last two years, which includied a win over the Lady’Backs in Fayetteville last year, 5-2. “Tulsa has got a very strong team this year,” said head coach Michael Hegarty. “We are looking forward to a great challenge and it should be a close match.” Arkansas is led this weekend by junior Vlatka Jovanovic. The smooth, consistent junior has played on the No. 1 court in two of the Lady’Backs three dual matches this spring, and could face Tulsa’s Daniela Muscovino, ranked 54th in the nation, on centre court Friday. Jovanovic, along with teammates No. 118 Maryori Franco, Karina Ledaja, Iliana Pacheco, all have the chance to build on three-match winning streaks that began with the first match of the spring season. In doubles, the Lady’Backs are led by Franco and Ledaja. The Arkansas pair has played on the No. 1 court in all dual matches thus far, and are a perfect 5-0 when paired together. The Lady Razorback return to the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. to face Oklahoma State University. The Lady’Backs have not met the Cowgirls in a dual match since the 1992-93 season, but saw action against OSU at the Lady Razorback Fall Invitational last September. At the fall tournament, the Lady Razorbacks were 7-5 in singles and 4-1 in doubles against the Cowgirls. Action begins against Tulsa on Friday at 6:00 p.m. For more information and live scoring, please visit www.ladybacks.com.