BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team became one of only 17 tennis programs in the nation to qualify for its sixth-consecutive NCAA Tournament, Thursday afternoon, as the bracket for the NCAA Championship was released.
“It says something special about our program, and it lets me know that we must be doing something right,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “The way that this team has made the tournament for six-straight years.”
The Lady Tigers (14-10) will travel to Malibu, Calif., to face the Iowa Hawkeyes Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m., in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa posted an overall record of 10-12 this season, with a 7-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference.
“I’m really excited about our draw,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “We definitely have a chance to go out there and achieve something special this season.”
Last season, LSU was also placed in the regional held in Malibu, Calif. The Lady Tigers defeated 44th-ranked Ohio State, 5-2, in the opening round of the tournament, but were then toppled by the 8th-ranked Pepperdine Waves, 5-1, in the second-round.
The Lady Tigers could face Pepperdine in the second-round of the tournament again this season. The Waves are once again in the same bracket as LSU and will take on Drake in their opening-round matchup. Pepperdine finished the regular season with a 20-4 overall record and as the No. 6 team in the nation.
“I feel as if we’ve played some solid tennis this season, but we still haven’t played at our best,” Minnis said. “We definitely have enough talent on this team to go out there and compete. We just need to stay focused.”
Ten of the 12 Southeastern Conference teams were among the top 28 seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament. Alabama was the only SEC team that didn’t make the tournament, and Auburn was the only conference team to enter the tournament seeded worst than No. 28.
The 10 SEC teams in order of the highest seed to lowest seed are as follows: Georgia, Florida, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, and Auburn.
The match between the LSU Lady Tigers and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament will begin at 10 a.m., May 12 in Malibu, Calif.