Great South Athletic Conference

e R

For Immediate Release
April 29, 2008

Huntingdon women to face Washington (Mo.) in NCAA tennis regional
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Committee has selected the 47 teams that will compete in the 2008 NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championships and the Huntingdon women’s tennis team will face Washington (Mo.) University in the opening-round of the Sewanee Regional.

For the second straight season, the two-time defending Great South Athletic Conference Champion Lady Hawks (12-6) will participate in the Sewanee Regional, the site where they picked up their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory over Meredith last season.

The championship provides for a 47-team tournament. Automatic qualification (AQ) is granted to 31 conference champions, which form "Pool A." Seven teams are selected from true independents and schools from conferences that do not have an automatic bid for their champions (Pool B). The remaining nine teams are selected from those teams in conferences with automatic bids that did not win their conference's AQ and the remaining Pool B institutions (Pool C). The teams are geographically paired, whenever possible.

Individually, the Lady Hawks placed four players on the GSAC All-Conference team, led by experienced seniors Amanda Thomley and Nicole Weldon, as well as two-time All-GSAC performer, sophomore Riley Prescott. Freshman Kristin McDaniel has also made an immediate impact on the program in her first season, en route to earning all-conference honors.

Thomley, who has earned All-Conference accolades in three of her four seasons at Huntingdon, currently sports a 7-7 singles mark, playing at either the No. 1 or No. 2 position. Thomley has also teamed with fellow senior Katie West at the top doubles position, with the duo recording a 7-8 mark.

Weldon is one of two Lady Hawks with 10 wins in singles play this season. Weldon has played at the top five positions during the season and has recorded a 10-5 record thus far. She has also participated in 12 doubles matches, posting a 7-5 record.

Prescott played all nine of her singles matches at the No. 1 position, responding with a 5-4 record. Prescott has also posted an 8-3 record in doubles, playing mainly with McDaniel at the No. 2 position.

McDaniel has posted a 7-6 singles record, while playing at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. In doubles, she has a 7-5 overall record, including a 7-3 mark with Prescott at the No. 2 spot. McDaniel sports a perfect 5-0 singles record in league play, while also recording a flawless doubles record in GSAC matches.

Washington University (15-5) was selected to participate in the tournament from the Pool C candidates.

The Bears will be making their ninth all-time NCAA appearance and the first since 2006, after finishing in third place at the 2008 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships.

Freshman Elise Sambol leads four Bears with double-figure dual-win totals with a perfect 14-0 record, while playing in the bottom four positions. Jaclyn Bild, Allison Dender and Karina Kocemba also have 10 or more singles victories.

The winner of the match between Huntingdon and Washington (Mo.) will take on Emory, who along with Trinity (Texas), will receive an opening-round bye on Friday. In other action at the Sewanee Regional, the host Lady Tigers will take on Principia with the winner to face Trinity on Saturday. The winner of each Saturday match will square off on Sunday to advance to the national quarterfinals.

The teams will play a single-elimination tournament with the first, second and third rounds played at regional sites, May 2-4. Gustavus Adolphus College will host the team championships finals, which will be held May 13-15 at the Swanson Tennis Center in Saint Peter, Minnesota. Seeds for the individual championships will be announced by 5 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow.

Courtesy of Huntingdon Sports Information Office