Miseviciute on the Honda Award ballot for tennis

FAYETTEVILLE – Junior tennis player Aurelija Miseviciute adds to her growing list of University of Arkansas firsts as a nominee for the 2008 Honda Award for women’s tennis.

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 earned all-America honors by leading her team to a program-best finish in the NCAA quarterfinals, falling to eventual national champion UCLA.

She backed it up by becoming the first Lady Razorback to reach the semifinals of the NCAA singles draw. 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, she was named first-team all-Southeastern Conference after leading Arkansas to its first-ever SEC Western Division title.

She joins fellow Arkansas student-athlete Stacy Lewis on the Honda Award ballot. Lewis was announced as one of the four finalists for the women’s golf award.

The last time the Lady Razorbacks had two Honda finalists was during the 1999-2000 academic year when Amy Yoder-Begley was a finalist for both cross country and track and field. Yoder-Begley won the 1999 Honda Award for women’s cross country.

Originally known as the Broderick Award, the award became the Honda-Broderick Cup. The award is voted on by college athletic directors across the country.

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.