Clemson Women’s Tennis Opens NCAA Tournament Play Saturday

May 13, 2011

Tournament Home Page | Clemson Women’s Tennis Notes

FAYETTEVILLE, AR – The 15th-seeded Clemson women’s tennis team will open play in the 2011 NCAA Team Tennis Tournament on Saturday at 11:00 am against Wichita State in Fayetteville, AR. The Tigers (19-10) are making their 18th all-time appearance in the tournament and the tenth in a row under head coach Nancy Harris.

Live scoring is available at ClemsonTigers.com. The winner of the matchup will advance to play the winner of Sacramento State and regional-host Arkansas at 2:00 pm on Sunday. The winner of that match advances to the Sweet 16, which is held in Palo Alto, CA.

Clemson holds a 22-17 all-time mark in NCAA Tournament play, and has reached the Sweet 16 in six of the last seven seasons, and in each of the last four. Clemson reached Final Fours in both the 2004 and 2005 seasons as well.

The Tigers are the top seed in the regional, and are the No. 15 overall seed, but were sent to Arkansas due to geographical considerations. It is the eighth straight season that Clemson has earned a national seed.

Clemson has never faced any of the other three teams in the regional in dual match play.

The Shockers won the Missouri Valley Conference with a 10-0 regular season mark, and finished 19-7 overall. They feature MVC Player of the Year, Luftiana Budiharto at the top singles position.

Clemson is led by junior All-ACC selections Josipa Bek (31-10) and Keri Wong (24-12). Bek, Clemson’s top singles player, is ranked 11th nationally, and Wong enters ranked 48th nationally. The duo are ranked sixth in the nation in doubles, and can each take over the school record or singles season doubles wins. They have each also qualified for the national singles and doubles competition, which takes place after the team tournament.

Masha Belaya (23-11) have closed the regular season strong.

Caroline Magnusson (18-10) will play in the No. 6 singles position, and has really come alive in her sophomore campaign.

Clemson will go for its 20th win of the season for the 13th time in school history, which would be the fourth such season under Harris.