Spink and Cross Earn All-SEC Honors
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two freshmen women’s tennis players earned three All-SEC honors as announced by the Southeastern Conference office on Thursday. Morgan Cross was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and Indianna Spink earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors and was selected First-Team All-SEC as well.
Spink is currently ranked No. 42 in singles play, good for ninth-best in the SEC and standing as the only freshman in the top 10 in the league. She completed her first regular season with an impressive 15-6 record, 8-3 at home. Spink has played the entirety of the conference season at the number one and two spots for the Razorbacks, accumulating a 6-2 record. Spink has tallied five ranked wins in her rookie campaign so far and has never lost to an unranked opponent dating back to the fall season.
The Hertfordshire, England native racked up multiple awards this season for her success, including three SEC Freshman of the Week awards. It’s the first time in Arkansas history that one Razorback has won the award three times and she was the only SEC student-athlete this season to garner the recognition three times. Spink is also setting a new standard as the first Hog to win SEC Freshman of the Year since the award was created in 2000. Her All-SEC selection also makes her the first freshman to earn first-team honors in program history.
Fellow freshman Cross also made her mark in the record book this season as an SEC All-Freshman Razorback, just the fourth in program history, joining Arkansas greats Kelsey Sundaram (2010), Yang Pang (2013) and Ana Oparenovic (2016).
Cross first appeared in the ITA doubles rankings at No. 72 with her partner, senior Tatum Rice after a 3-2 start and since improved to No. 47 with an SEC Tournament win over Auburn-duo No. 73 Georgia Axon and Adeline Flach, it was the second time this season Cross and Rice defeated the Tiger pair. Cross also led the Razorback duo to a strong 6-3 win over Texas A&M’s No. 26 Tatiana Makarova and Jayci Goldsmith.
The Wales, U.K. native has accumulated a 17-8 record in doubles play this year, including a 15-2 run to kick off the fall season. She and Spink also made a run into the semifinals of the ITA Central Regional Championships before falling to the eventual runners-up from Oklahoma State. Cross also started the spring on a team-best seven-match win streak in singles play at the number four spot.
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