Razorback tennis team receives highest opening ranking since 2009
FAYETTEVILLE — Following a successful fall season, Arkansas will enter the dual match portion of the 2017–18 campaign as the nation’s No.
18 ranked team, announced by Oracle and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Wednesday.
One of nine Southeastern Conference teams featured in the top 25, the Razorbacks’ No.
18 ranking is their highest since opening at No. 14 in 2009.
“We know that our successful fall season has us well positioned for a strong run this spring season,” head coach Michael Hegarty said. “The excitement is high, and we look forward to growing throughout the spring to fulfill our potential.”
A national rankings panel voted on the top 25 teams and will do so up to the ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championship in February. Upon the conclusion of the national event, team rankings will transition to the computerized system.
The 2018 campaign will mark the Razorbacks’ 15th season under Hegarty, who is the
2017 Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year and the program’s all-time winningest coach with 197 victories. Arkansas will return the bulk of its 2017 roster that finished No.
19 in the final national rankings with an 18-10 record overall and 7-6 in the SEC. Arkansas defeated 11 teams featured in the final national rankings, including No. 14 Auburn, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 21 LSU and No. 24 Tennessee, and held a spot in the top 20 in each of the last 10 weeks of the season.
The team now includes Tatum Rice, who joined the Razorbacks in Fayetteville last summer after graduating from Lakeside High School as the state’s top tennis recruit. She was ranked as the No. 28 overall player in the nation as a senior by TennisRecruiting.net.
Rice finished 7-3 in singles competition during her fall season and went 8-2 in doubles play with her partner, sophomore Jackie Carr. Rice and Carr earned three wins over ranked opponents and advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Central Regional championships in October. The pair was ranked No. 34 in the national doubles rankings following the fall season.
Rice’s younger sister, Lakeside senior Thea Rice, concluded her final high school tennis season this fall with the Class 5A and state Overall titles. Thea Rice signed in November to join her sister at Arkansas after she graduates from Lakeside.
The Razorbacks will open the spring season at home against Tulsa on Jan. 23.