FSU Women's Tennis Headed To NCAA Tourney
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* Click Here For Midwest Regional #1 Draw
Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's tennis team has been selected to participate in the 2011 NCAA Division II Championships. The 48 selected teams along with the first and second-round regional sites were announced late Tuesday evening (April 26) by the NCAA-II Men's and Women's Tennis Committee.
Each of the following eight regions will conduct one or two first and second-round regional preliminary tournaments: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.
The Bulldog women's squad (19-4) is the fourth overall seed of five teams chosen in the Midwest Region and will face fifth-seeded Wayne State (15-7) in a three-team preliminary round draw on Monday, May 2, starting at 12 p.m. (ET) in Allendale, Mich. The three-team Midwest Regional #1 tournament will be hosted by top-seeded Grand Valley State (30-0).
The FSU-WSU winner will square off against the Lakers in a regional second-round match on Tuesday, May 3, at noon with a berth in the 16-team national championships on the line.
The other two teams in the Midwest Region are second-seeded Drury (Mo.) and third-seeded Northwood, who will face each other on Sunday (May 1) in the Midwest Region #2 tournament at Springfield, Mo. The winner of that match will also move on to the national championships, which will take place May 11-14 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
The selections of teams for the championship was based on prescribed criteria listed in the NCAA-II Men's and Women's Tennis Championships Handbook and approved by the NCAA-II Championships Committee.
The Bulldog women's team is currently 19-4 overall this campaign and will be making its 19th overall regional tournament appearance, including its second-straight showing. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA-II National Championship round of 16 six times in history.
Ferris State and Wayne State also squared off against each other in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional a year ago (5/6/10) with the Warriors pulling out a 5-2 victory at Midland, Mich.
However, the Bulldogs have beat WSU twice this season, including a 5-1 triumph in the third-place match at the GLIAC Tournament last fall (10/24) at the Midland Community Tennis Center. FSU also recorded a 6-3 road win over Wayne State (9/12/10) in conference regular-season action during the fall campaign.
GVSU is currently ranked 16th with FSU 42nd and Wayne State 44th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II National Poll.