INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The West Liberty University women's tennis team has earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the 17th time in program history.
Coach Heather Gallagher's Hilltoppers are the No. 5 seed in next week's NCAA D2 Atlantic Region championships and will take on No. 4 seed West Virginia State Monday at 9 a.m. in a regional semifinal at the Schoenbaum Courts in Charleston, W.Va.
In a virtual replay of this past weekend's Mountain East Conference Tournament, the winner of the West Liberty/West Virginia State match advances to Tuesday's regional final against host and No. 1 seed Charleston. The winner of that match will earn one of the spots in the 16-team field at the NCAA D2 Nationals, set for May 11-16 at the Collegiate Center on the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
Monday's semifinal will be the third meeting of the season between the Hilltoppers and Yellowjackets, who split a pair of narrow decisions in the first two encounters. West Liberty eked out a 4-3 decision in the regular season match while State prevailed by a 4-2 count in last week's MEC Tournament semifinal.
Indiana, Pa. earned the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Region and is hosting the other side of the regional bracket. The Crimson Hawks play No 7 seed Shaw, N.C. Monday at 9 a.m. with No. 3 seed Slippery Rock, Pa. taking on No 6 seed Fairmont State in a 2 p.m. semifinal. The two winners will play at noon Monday with a trip to the NCAA D2 Nationals in Florida on the line.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
NCAA D2 Regional Pairings
Atlantic Region No. 1
(at Charleston, W.Va.)
Monday, May 1
No. 4 W.Va. State (8-7) vs. No. 5 WEST LIBERTY (12-7), 9 a.m.
Tuesday, May 2
No. 1 Charleston (20-1) vs. W.Va. State/WEST LIBERTY winner, 9 a.m.
Atlantic Region No. 2
(at Indiana, Pa.)
Monday, May 1
No. 2 Indiana, Pa. (12-9) vs. No. 7 Shaw, N.C. (14-4), 10 a.m.
No. 3 Slippery Rock, Pa. (14-8) vs. No. 6 Fairmont State (13-6), 2 p.m.
Tuesday, May 2
