Jan. 16, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women's tennis team added one member for the upcoming spring dual season as Ashley Murdock has transferred back to her hometown Lady Tiger team after spending the past season at LSU.

"We are so exited about the addition of Ashley Murdock," Head Coach Lee Taylor Walker said. "She will immediately make a postive impact on our team, bringing nationally competitive experience and a very powerful game. I look forward to developing her skills and having her in our Tiger Tennis family. Her addition and development is crucial to what we are trying to build here at the University of Memphis -- and that's to be a place where all top local prospects want to play at."

Murdock, who was a one-year letterwinner at LSU, will complete this spring as a sophomore, joining the sophomore class of Amanda Brown, Marjorie Ondeck and Dara Toulch. The daughter of Mike and Nancy Murdock, Ashley is a second generation Tiger as her dad was a member of the Tiger golf team from 1973-75 and her mom, Nancy, was the first Golden Girl baton twirler. Her sister, Kristen, is currently a member of the Memphis Spirit Squads, while her brother, James, pitched at Jacksonville University through 2006.

Murdock posted a 9-7 record at LSU last season, including a 2-0 record at No. 4 singles, an 0-1 record at No. 5 and a 2-1 record at No. 6. She played No. 6 singles in matches against three different nationally-ranked teams, winning two of those matches. She defeated No. 58 San Diego's Sophia Vogt, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, then downed No. 46 San Diego State's Kathryn Kitts, 6-2, 6-0.

A graduate of St. Agnes Academy in Memphis, Murdock was named a four-star recruit by TennisRecruiting.net. She was named the St. Agnes outstanding athlete following her junior and senior seasons and was also a standout on the hardwood, earning four letters and first team all-district honors in basketball and passing the 1,000-career point mark. She was named a Commercial Appeal Best of Preps finalist in basketball in 2005, was named to the West Regional All-Tournament Team and was a two-time All-Metro performer and St. Agnes basketball MVP after averaging 18 points per game as a senior.

On the tennis court, Murdock was a member of the St. Agnes 2003 State Championship team and the 2004 State Runner-up squad. She was named to the All-Metro tennis teams all four seasons and went undefeated her senior year. She won the Deerwood Grand Slam as a freshman and finished third in the Tennessee State Championships as a sophomore. She won the YMCA Louisiana Junior State Championship and the Squafine Mississippi Junior Open Championship her junior season. She was coached at St. Agnes by Carla Brandenberg, and also was a member of the Christian Brothers varsity cheerleading squad.

A Memphis native, Murdock has some background with her Lady Tiger teammates already, as she faced current Lady Tiger freshman Lindsey Wiseman in the Division II West Region Tournament in 2006. Murdock won that match, earning the No. 1 seed in the west for the state tournament, with Wiseman earning the No. 2 seed. Murdock advanced to the finals of the Division II tournament there before falling to Claire Bartlett of Girls Preparatory School.

Murdock's signing gives Memphis three hometown prep players on its roster. Murdock joins Briarcrest's Lindsey Wiseman, who is currently a freshman at Memphis, and another St. Agnes product, Kristin Chamberlain, who is a junior at Memphis after transferring from Cleveland State this summer.

The Lady Tigers will open their regular season Jan. 27th against UT Martin. That match will be played at WellWorx and will be a double-header with the Tiger men's tennis team playing at 1:00.