WTEN | Gaels Headed to Third Straight NCAA Tournament
5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's women's tennis team has been awarded an at-large berth to the 2012 NCAA Tennis Championships, marking the third consecutive season the Gaels have made it to the ‘Big Dance.'
No. 41 Saint Mary's will open the championships against No. 28 Yale in the first round on Friday, May 11 at 11 a.m. The Gaels are staying local once again, as they will make the quick trip to Stanford for the first round of the tournament to play at the Taube Tennis Center. A first round win would match Saint Mary's up with either No. 5 Stanford (17-1) or Stony Brook (11-7) on Saturday, May 12.
"We are ecstatic about our selection," said head coach Lisa Alipaz. "We feel fortunate that the selection committee recognized our solid performance throughout the season. We had a pretty clean match record going in so I feel like we deserved a look but I wasn't sure if we were going to get it. We are fired up that we did and can't wait to compete next weekend."
Saint Mary's is currently ranked No. 41 and concluded the regular season with a 14-7 overall record. The Gaels were 7-1 in conference play this season but fell to eventual champion San Diego in the semifinals of the WCC Tennis Championships this past weekend. Saint Mary's cemented their postseason resume early in the season when they upset two top-30 teams (No. 25 Oklahoma and No. 29 Washington) and at one point were ranked as high as No. 20 in the ITA Poll.
The No. 28-ranked Bulldogs enter the NCAA Tournament with a 19-3 overall record and went 7-0 in Ivy League play to earn the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. Yale has won their last nine consecutive matches heading in to the NCAA Tournament and their only three losses this season came to currently ranked No. 15 Michigan, No. 65 Syracuse, and No. 10 Miami (Fla.). The Bulldogs do not have any ranked singles players but have three ranked doubles pairs in No. 61 Hanna Yu/Victoria Brook, No. 84 Amber Li/Brook, and No. 88 Li/Annie Sullivan. This will be the first ever matchup between the two women's tennis programs.
"Anyone who makes the NCAA Tournament is going to be a tough opponent. We will try to get as prepared as possible and make sure we are ready for next weekend," said Alipaz.
This is just the second time in the history of Saint Mary's Athletics that a program has participated in three consecutive NCAA Tournaments (Volleyball, 2003-05). The selection to this season's NCAA Tournament also marks the second straight season as an at-large selection. The Gaels made their first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2010 when they won the program's first WCC Championship. Last season, Saint Mary's earned an at-large berth and took on No. 16 USC in the first round, falling to the Trojans, 4-1.
All seats for Friday's match are general admission. Three-day all-session tickets are $18 (adult) and $12 (student/youth/senior). Single-day tickets are $7 (adult) and $5 (student/youth/senior). All-session tickets are available beginning at noon on Thursday, May 3, by calling 1-800-STANFORD or visiting www.gostanford.com. Single-day tickets can be purchased on the day of competition at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
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