Clemson Women’s Tennis Earns #12 Seed And NCAA Regional Site

April 28, 2009

CLEMSON, SC – The 12th-ranked Clemson women’s tennis team was awarded an NCAA regional for the sixth straight year as the Tigers earned the #12 seed for the 2009 national tournament. Clemson will play host to Winthrop, North Carolina and Georgia State at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center as the 64-team field was announced on Tuesday evening. The Tigers and Eagles will meet in the first round for the second consecutive year while the Tar Heels and Panthers will face off in the other regional competition. The winners from Friday’s contests will match-up in the second round on Saturday. Times will be announced at a later date.

The winner of the Clemson regional will advance to the NCAA Championships which are scheduled to begin on May 15 in College Station, TX on the campus of Texas A&M University.

Clemson boasts a 17-7 record for the 2009 season and is making its eighth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will also be playing in their 10th overall national tournament under Head Coach Nancy Harris. In 2008, Clemson defeated Winthrop by a 4-0 margin in the opening round before posting a 4-1 win over Michigan in the second round. The Tigers then fell to Stanford in the round of 16.

The Winthrop Eagles will be making their second straight trip to Clemson for NCAA Tournament play. The Eagles successfully defended their Big South Championship for the automatic bid and will bring a 14-8 record into Tigertown. The first-round match will be just the fourth meeting in history between the two schools, who hadn’t met since 1979 before last year’s contest. The Tigers have won all four prior match-ups.

North Carolina boasts the #20 Campbell/ITA Tennis ranking and an 18-10 overall record for the year. A second-round meeting between the Tar Heels and Tigers would be the third this season. Clemson won the regular season match-up by a 5-2 margin in Chapel Hill, NC while North Carolina avenged the loss with a 4-2 upset in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Apr. 17.

Georgia State earned an automatic bid after winning the CAA Championship. The Panthers enter NCAA play with a 10-4 record and the #46 national ranking.