Southland Conference Tournament
4/28/2011 6:26:00 AM | Women's Tennis
UTSA is hosting the event at the UTSA tennis center Friday, April 29, through Sunday, May 1. Sam Houston's appearance marks the seventh consecutive year for the Bearkats to qualify for the Southland post-season event. SHSU has played in eight tournaments overall
The Bearkats will matchup with No. 2 seed Lamar in the first round Friday at 11 a.m. Sam Houston will be looking for their third first round win in Kat tennis history. The SHSU women won first round matches over Lamar in 2005 and UTSA in 2006. Last year, the Bearkats fell to Lamar 4-1 in opening day competition.
UT Arlington earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament with a perfect 11-0 Southland record. The Mavericks ranked No. 62 nationally and won the regular season title for the second time in the last three years.
The other seeds are No. 2 Lamar, No. 3 Northwestern State, No. 4 Texas State, No. 5 Stephen F. Austin, No. 6 A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 8 McNeese State.
The first match of the tournament Friday at 9 a.m. will pit No. 3 Northwestern State (9-2) against No. 6 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (7-4), The other matches on the first day are No. 4 Texas State (7-4) vs. No. 5 Stephen F. Austin (7-4) at 3 p.m. and No. 1 UT Arlington (11-0) vs. No. 8 McNeese State at 1 p.m.
The winners from the opening-round matches will play Saturday, April 30 for a spot in the tournament championship Sunday, May 1 at 3 p.m., with the winner earning the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
Sam Houston brings a 7-9 overall season mark and 4-7 Southland record into the tournament. Lamar defeated the Bearkats 6-1 in their regular season meeting in Beaumont March 5.
The Bearkats feature a singles line-up of Imke Jagau, Tatyana Postnikova, Nadia Dubyanskaya, Sheridan Currie, Anrinette Botha and Natalie Petaia playing one through six, respectively.
In doubles Dubyanskaya and Postnikova pair at number one, Currie and Cally Woerner at number two and Jagau and Petaia at number three.
