FMU's Vitkova earns Arthur Ashe Jr. Award

Francis Marion University senior women's tennis player Sarka Vitkova was recently awarded the Mid-Atlantic Region's Intercollegiate Tennis Association/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship, the second consecutive year an FMU student-athlete has earned this award.

FMU's Kamini Murugaboopathy was the 2007 recipient, following her senior year.

The ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship Award is annually awarded to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.

A native of Humpolec, Czech Republic, she was 17-4 in singles play this past season, mainly at the No.2 position, and finished the year ranked 40th in NCAA Division II.  All four of her losses were to nationally ranked players.  In doubles competition, she posted a 15-10 at the No. 1 spot, and was ranked 20th nationally.

She helped lead the seventh-ranked Patriot women to their most successful season ever with a 23-3 mark and an appearance in the Division II Elite Eight in Houston, Texas.  The team's three losses were all to the two squads that played in the national title match. 

In Vitkova's three seasons at FMU, the Patriots were 59-17 and earned three invitations to the Division II tournament.

She recently earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at the May commencement exercises.  She is a past member of the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll and the FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic Honor Roll, and was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the national college athlete honor society.

She was named to the 2008 PBC pre-season All-Conference squad.