March 24, 2002

The University of Missouri women's tennis team has moved up in the latest ITA rankings from No. 70 to No. 55. It is the highest ranking for the Tigers in school history.

"This is great for our players, and I'm very happy for them," Missouri Coach Blake Starkey said. "We had a huge national win a week ago. Our players have worked so hard, and they deserve this. This shows the strength and pairity of the Big 12 is on the national level. We've got seven teams in the rankings right now."

Last weekend, the Tigers defeated #23 Oklahoma State, and then dropped a heartbreaker to Texas Tech.

Individually, sophomore Urska Juric, Missouri's No. 1 singles player, helped lead the Tigers by defeating the OSU's Dominika Olzewska and Texas Tech's Irina Tereschenko. For her efforts, she was named Big 12 Player of the Week.

"This says something about the whole team," Starkey said. "Some of the top kids get a lot of credit, but this ranking doesn't happen unless the whole team is on the same page. But all in all, now that we've got this beautiful brand new new indoor facility, and as young as we are, Mizzou's future is obviously bright."