Five GLIAC Teams To Participate in NCAA D-II Women's Tennis Tournament

 BAY CITY, Mich. - Ashland University, Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University, Northwood University and Wayne State University will represent the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in the 2010 NCAA D-II Women's Tennis Tournament.

Ashland Eagles 

The AU tennis team has made the NCAA regional tournament for the third consecutive season and for the third time in the history of the program.  The Eagles had another successful regular season with an 18-7 record.  After a strong fall season, Ashland has been perfect in the spring.  Starting on Feb. 20, AU has won 10 straight contests and has not played a match that was closer than 6-3.  Paige Cooper leads the squad with a 21-3 record in singles play with an 18-3 mark at third singles, where she normally plays.  The Eagles take on Grand Valley State on Friday (May 7) at 10 a.m.   

Ferris State Bulldogs

The Ferris State University women's tennis squad will take part in the 2010 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament and will square off against fellow Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) counterpart Wayne State in the first match of the day on Thursday (May 6) at 9 a.m. (EDT) in Midland, Mich. The other women's match in the four-team regional features host Northwood against St. Joseph's (Ind.) of the GLVC beginning at 11 a.m. (EDT). The women's regional final will be held Friday (May 7) at 10 a.m. (EDT). The 12-8 Bulldog women's team will be making its 18th overall regional tournament appearance, but its first since 2007. Ferris State dropped a 5-4 decision to Indianapolis in its most recent NCAA Tourney action three years ago (5/3/07) at Midland. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA-II Championship round of 16 six times in history. The Bulldogs are guided by third-year head coach Alex Palladino.  FSU took fifth place in the league tournament last fall (Oct. 24-25) in Lansing, Mich.

Grand Valley State Lakers 

Grand Valley State's women's tennis team will face Ashland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The match will take place on Friday, May 7 at 10:00 a.m. at the Copper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo. The winner will advance to play the winner of match #2 between Drury and Northern Kentucky on May 8 at 11:00 a.m. This year the Lakers defeated Ashland by a 6-3 decision on Oct. 17, in Ashland, Ohio. GVSU claimed wins at No. 3, 4, and 6 singles, while taking all three double matches. Grand Valley State holds an overall record of 20-8 on the year, while the top-athlete for the Lakers is Darylann Trout at 25-5, followed by Chelsea Johnston (20-9). During the 2009 campaign Drury defeated the Lakers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by a 5-3 decision.

Northwood Timberwolves 

Northwood earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region after posting a 15-1 regular season and will host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament (May 6-7).  The Timberwolves claimed their seventh straight GLIAC Championship this season.  They are led by ITA Midwest Senior Player of the Year Darina Berkova, who was also named the GLIAC Player of the Year in the fall.  Northwood has been a strong team this season both in singles and doubles, currently owning a team record of 80-18 in singles (.816) and 42-10 in doubles (.808).  The Timberwolves have been ranked in the top-20 nationally every week since the fall and enter the NCAA Tournament No. 17 nationally.

Wayne State Warriors 

For the fifth time in the past six seasons the Wayne State University women’s tennis team (15-5, 6-3 GLIAC) earned a tournament bid. Wayne State will be squaring off against Ferris State (12-8, 5-4 GLIAC) on May 6 at 9:00 a.m. in Midland, Mich. The winner of that match will then face the winner of the Northwood vs. St. Joseph's (IN) bout with the victor moving onto Florida.

Earlier this season, WSU defeated FSU 5-4 as the Warriors scored two doubles victories and wins at first, second and sixth singles.

Wayne State is 4-0 in its last four contests against Ferris State. However, the last time the two teams met in the postseason was a 2005 regional bout in which the Bulldogs earned a 5-0 victory over the Warriors.

Next Friday’s matchup will feature some of the best tennis players in the region as WSU’s Sharon Gill and Kristina Goranskaya join FSU’s Amy Ingle as three of the top-15 singles players in the region according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Midwest Region singles poll.

A plethora of Warriors have had standout seasons for Wayne State in 2009-10. Five of WSU’s top six singles players have winning records with Gill (20-3) and Goranskaya (18-4) leading the way from the first and second flights.

With their solid play throughout the year at fourth, fifth and sixth singles respectively; McCall Monte (12-5), Jennifer Bradford (13-4) and Debora Correa (12-7) give WSU a strong lineup 1-6.

Milena Vuksanovic has been a part of two successful doubles teams this season. In the fall she teamed with Gill to win 12 matches and in the spring she went 6-1 with Monte from the second flight.

Gill and Goranskaya were 7-0 in the spring from the first spot while Correa and Bradford were 11-4 together playing mostly third doubles.

Last season, WSU defeated Ashland 5-0 in the first round of its regional tournament before falling to Northwood 5-0.