Bears Receive First-Round Bye in 2010 NCAA Tournament

St. Louis, Mo., May 10, 2010 – The No. 21 Washington University in St. Louis women’s tennis team earned an at-large berth into the 2010 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, as announced by the NCAA on Monday evening.  Washington University will travel to Chicago, Ill., for the first three rounds of the tournament and after a first-round bye will take on either Calvin College or Baldwin-Wallace College in the second round on Friday, May 14.

Washington U. (13-5) will be making its third-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament under head coach Kelly Stahlhuth, and the 11th in school history. The Bears earned an at-large berth as the fifth-place finisher in the University Athletic Association (UAA).  In 10 previous trips to the NCAA Tournament, Washington U. has posted a 6-10 record (.375), and the Bears have advanced to the round of 32 in each of the last three years.

The UAA is well represented in this year’s field, with three other universities, Emory University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago, also making appearances. The 2010 UAA Champion University of Chicago is the host institution for this weekend’s regional.

Webster University and Grove City College will play one another in Thursday’s other opening round match, with the winner advancing to face No. 3 Chicago on Friday. The winners of each regional semifinal match on Friday will advance to regional championship on Saturday.

Calvin College is 17-3 this season and earned the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAC) automatic bid to the NCAA Championship via a 6-3 victory over Hope College in the conference championship match. It is the first NCAA appearance in school history.

Baldwin-Wallace won the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) championship with a 5-4 win over Otterbein College on May 8, marking the third time over the past four seasons the Yellow Jackets have claimed their conference title.

Webster University is also making its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Gorloks won the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Championship with a 5-1 victory over Greenville College on April 24. Their first-round opponent, Grove City, won the President’s Athletic Conference for the 23rd year in a row and will be making its second-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines won the PAC automatic bid back on Oct. 24, 2009.

The Bears have not faced potential second-round opponent Calvin this season, but they have played Baldwin-Wallace, picking up a 7-1 win on March 8, in Hilton Head, S.C.

The University of Mary Washington will host the team championships finals, which will be held May 25-27, at the Battleground Tennis Complex in Fredericksburg, Va. Student-athletes selected to the individual championships will be announced Wednesday, May 12.

Match times and ticket information will be announced later in the week.