Hegarty Named Regional Coach Of The Year
TEMPE, Ariz. – Arkansas women’s tennis head coach Michael Hegarty was named the 2017 Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year, announced Monday night by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
It’s the third time at Arkansas and sixth time in his career that Hegarty has earned regional coach of the year honors as either a head coach or assistant coach. His previous Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year accolades with the Razorbacks were in 2008 and 2010. With this year’s selection, Hegarty is eligible for the national coach of the year award, which will be announced May 23.
“This award belongs to our great group of players who prepared and competed all season at an elite level without fail and took our tennis culture levels forward in very tangible ways,” Hegarty said. “We have some great momentum heading forward.”
In his 14th season at the helm, Hegarty guided the No. 19 Razorbacks to 18 wins and the program’s 15th all-time NCAA Championship bid, including its third straight for the first time since 2010-12. Arkansas beat Wichita State 4-2 on Saturday in the first round for the program’s first win in the NCAA Championship since 2011. Hegarty has helped the Hogs to nine of their 15 NCAA appearances.
Hegarty coached the Razorbacks to victories against 11 teams in the current national rankings this season, including No. 11 Auburn, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 21 LSU and No. 24 Tennessee, while his squad has held a top-20 ranking in each of the last 10 weeks.
Under the direction of Hegarty, senior co-captain Shannon Hudson earned second-team All-SEC honors this year. Hudson became the 13th All-SEC selection at Arkansas under Hegarty, and it marked the third straight year a Razorback has earned postseason honors from the conference.
Hegarty and the Razorbacks will turn their attention to the NCAA singles and doubles championships May 24-29 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia, after the conclusion of the team championship.
Hudson earned a bid to the singles championship, marking the program’s 15th selection all-time, while sophomore Ana Oparenovic earned the first alternate spot. In addition, Hudson and freshman Giulia Pairone were selected as the first alternate for the doubles championship.
