Preview: 2016 NCAA D-III Women’s Tennis Championships
CLAREMONT, Calif. – Of the six teams visiting Claremont for the first three rounds (May 13-15) of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships, four teams find itself in the top-25 nationally, including host and D-III No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
CMS (19-4) earned a first round bye for NCAA postseason competition. Pomona-Pitzer (19-3) received the other first round bye in the six-team regional to be played at CMS. First round matches are Trinity (Texas: 14-9) against Texas-Tyler (21-3) and Lewis & Clark (Ore: 18-2) against UC Santa Cruz (3-9) on Friday, May 13 at 10 a.m. In the second round on Saturday, May 14, CMS plays the TU-UTT winner at 10 a.m. Pomona-Pitzer plays the LC-UCSC winner in the second round at 2 p.m. The third round is scheduled for Sunday, May 15.
Then, the winner of the third round match advances to the team championships finals, which will be held May 23-25 at Stowe Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich. In addition to competing as a team in the NCAA Championships, the NCAA announced on May 12 that two Athenas (listed below) have been selected to compete in the singles and doubles competition, May 26-28 at Stowe Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Information about the first, second and third rounds of the NCAA Championships in Claremont can be found on the Tournament Page. This page includes directions, schedules, results, video and live scoring links, and much more.
Regional Team Previews
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Winners of the SCIAC Championships, CMS earned an automatic bid to the NCAA postseason by defeating Pomona-Pitzer in the conference championship match. CMS has three matches this season against potential regional competition, going 2-1 with wins over Trinity (8-1) at Emory and Pomona-Pitzer (7-2) and a loss at Pomona-Pitzer (5-4). The Athenas enter the NCAA Championships with two of the top-10 singles players in the West Region. Senior Caroline Ward (CMC) ranks fourth in the West while junior Katie Kuosman (CMC) is sixth. The duo ranks second in the West in doubles and the CMS team of sophomore Kyla Scott (HMC) and freshman Jessie Cruz (CMC) is sixth. Both Ward and Kuosman received an invite from the NCAA to participate in in the singles and doubles competition of the NCAA Championships, May 26-28 at Stowe Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Lewis & Clark (Ore.)
Lewis & Clark is in the NCAA tournament field for the first time after winning its first conference championship since the Pioneers won 10-straight from 1970-79. The Pios were 8-2 against regionally-ranked opponents this season and 1-1 against nationally-ranked foes, with the national loss coming against Pomona-Pitzer in March. Overall, the Pios are 18-2 this season. Summer Garrison is ranked No. 7 in national singles and Aurora Garrison is No. 47. The duo is the country's No. 23-ranked doubles pair. UC-Santa Cruz has no nationally-ranked singles players, while Pomona-Pitzer has three in the top 40.
Pomona-Pitzer
The Sagehens head into the weekend ranked No. 3 in the nation after a regular season in which they won a share of the conference championship. In 2016, Pomona-Pitzer is 2-1 against teams in the regional with wins over CMS (5-4) and Lewis & Clark (9-0) and a loss to CMS (7-2). Caroline Casper is the top rated singles player in the West, Joy Kim is fifth and Maryann Zhao is 10th to highlight a few key contributors. Emily Chen and Zhao are the top doubles team in the West and have been invited to the NCAA doubles competition.
UC Santa Cruz
UC Santa Cruz received an automatic qualification as the Great South Atlantic Conference Champions. Amy Leslie, GSAC Freshmen of the Year, also joined by Sylvia Brummitt, Islay Fossett, and Zoe Brook as first team All-GSAC recipients will be leading the Slugs against Lewis and Clark.
Texas-Tyler
The Patriots earned the NCAA bid after winning the American Southwest Conference Championships. This is their eighth regional appearance. Mary Alice Blacketer and Tori Musngi each come into the regional tournament with 13-7 singles records this season and have also teamed up to produce an 18-6 first doubles record as partners. The team is 7-3 in their last 10 matches, including sweeping through the ASC Championship. Blacketer, a senior from Lubbock is in her first season at UT Tyler, while Tori Musngi is a junior with a 57-26 first doubles record and a 45-27 singles record in her career.
Trinity (Tex.)
Trinity is competing in its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament, and the 20th overall. This season, the Tigers stand at 14-9, and are 13-6 against Division III opponents. Trinity earned its 20th berth in the NCAA postseason event by capturing a 20th Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship. The Tigers wrapped up their regular-season home schedule with a 7-2 victory over UT-Tyler last month. The 2016 regional will be at a familiar site for the Tigers. Last year, Trinity opened up with a win over UT-Tyler at Claremont. Host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps then beat Trinity in the second round. The Tigers won the 2000 NCAA national title. Trinity has also been national runner-up on two occasions, and has advanced to the semifinals 10 times.
By Chris Watts
Director of Athletics Communication
Claremont McKenna College
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