Miseviciute one win away from main draw at ITA All-American Championship

LOS ANGELES – Arkansas Lady Razorback Aurelija Miseviciute continues to mow down ranked opponents as she is a mere one match away from qualifying for the main draw of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, the hard way.

Miseviciute has won five straight matches since pre-qualifying began Saturday, September 29th, including two against ranked opponents on Tuesday.

“It was a real gutsy performance by Aurelija to get this far in singles,” said Arkansas head tennis coach Michael Hegarty after a long day of tennis action. “Hopefully she has enough gas in the tank to win another match tomorrow.”

Miseviciute started Monday by defeating, No. 84 ranked, Courtney Zaft of Texas, 6-2, 6-2. However, she was not done for the day. The junior from Lithuania continued her dominance by topping Pepperdine’s Sylvia Kosakowski, ranked No. 38 overall, 6-4, 6-3. By winning both of her matches today, Miseviciute plays the No. 23 ranked women’s tennis player on Wednesday, Kirstin Flower of Georgia Tech, which could be her toughest test of the year. Miseviciute defeated Flower’s teammate Noelle Hickey to earn a birth to the qualifier.

Doubles action on Tuesday came to a solemn end. After making it through the pre qualifier over the weekend, juniors Miseviciute and Ela Kaluder were ousted by Marija Milic and Vanja Corovic of Texas, 8-4. Although the loss puts the Arkansas pair out of the ITA qualifier, they will face a North Carolina duo of Sanaz Marand and Austin Smith in doubles consolation at 12 p.m.

“I’m glad Ela and Aurelija are able to get some more doubles in tomorrow,” Hegarty said. “Good friendly matches like this are what can help our team improve.”

Be sure to stay tuned to LADYBACKS.com for the ITA All-American qualifier results.