May 11, 2006

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State senior Dita Hauerlandova has been named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) West Region recipient of the Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship & Leadership award. She is one of eight women's tennis players in the country to earn the prestigious honor and the first Aztec since 2002 to earn the award.

Hauerlandova, from Prague, Czech Republic, finished the 2006 regular season with an 18-16 overall singles record and is currently ranked No. 69 in the latest FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. In doubles, she and Sisse Nielsen are the 32nd-ranked duo in America with a 19-11 overall record. Earlier this month, the pair were selected as second alternates for the NCAA doubles championships, set to commence on May 23.

The regional award is the third in less than a month for the Aztec senior as she garnered all-Mountain West Conference singles honors for the third straight year and doubles accolades for the second consecutive season.

Hauerlandova joins Julie Chidley in 2002 as the only SDSU women's tennis players to win the regional award.

According to the ITA, the purpose of the Arthur Ashe Collegiate Award is to honor Arthur Ashe and the vision in which he embodied of the importance of education, sportsmanship and leadership. Tennis opened the door of higher education for Ashe. Tennis and college offered him a springboard into a life of vast achievement; first as a world-class athlete, then as an educator and international humanitarian.

Hauerlandova and the No. 34 Aztecs are in action this Friday, May 12, as they take on 19th-ranked UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Championship. The match is set for a 3 p.m. PDT start at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on the campus of Pepperdine University.