Tribe Set for NCAA Regional Battle with N.C. State

W&M will face the No. 34-ranked Wolfpack on Friday at 1 p.m.

05/08/08 2:30PM

Williamsburg - The No. 24-ranked William and Mary women’s tennis team will open NCAA Regional play on Friday afternoon at Duke University's Ambler Stadium against No. 36-ranked North Carolina State. The Tribe-Wolfpack tilt is slated for 1 p.m., following the opening match of the regional between No. 9 Duke and Temple. The winners of both first round matches will battle for a spot in the NCAA Round of 16 at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 10.

The match with N.C. State will mark the second time in the last three seasons the two teams have met in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack downed the Tribe, 4-3, in Richmond during the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Tickets for the first and second rounds are available for purchase at Duke University’s Ambler Tennis Stadium on the day of the matches for $5, with seniors and student tickets on sale for $3. Fans can also purchase tickets online at GoDuke.com. Live stats for the event will also be available at GoDuke.com or by following the link at TribeAthletics.com.

The Wolfpack is 13-10 overall on the season and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the ACC Championship, before falling to No. 3-ranked Georgia Tech. N.C. State and Tribe have seven common opponents on the season in Miami (Fla.), Wake Forest, Richmond, Virginia, Princeton, Arkansas and Marshall. W&M is 6-1 against the group with its lone setback coming to Miami (Fla.) at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, while N.C. State went 5-3 with defeats to Miami (Fla.), Arkansas and Virginia.

The 17-8 Tribe enters the weekend on a nine-match winning streak. The College has been on a roll of late and captured the program’s 20th CAA Championship in the 23-year history of the league on April 20. W&M breezed through the conference field with a trio of 4-0 victories capped by a triumph over No. 36 VCU in the championship match. The Green and Gold started the streak with a 5-2 win over No. 16 Fresno State on the road at the beginning of March.

W&M is making its 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament field and garnered its eighth straight bid. The Tribe owns a 20-16 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament and last season advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time since 2003. In 2007, the Tribe was seeded No. 15 in the tournament and downed Richmond, 4-0, and Wake Forest, 4-1, to earn a spot in the round of 16. W&M will attempt to make back-to-back round of 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since garnering a spot in the quarterfinals during both the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

For the fifth time in her W&M career, senior Megan Moulton-Levy garnered ITA All-America honors. By virtue of being seeded No. 9-16 in the NCAA Singles Championship, Moulton-Levy garnered another All-America accolade. She became only the second Tribe player in school history to appear in the NCAA Singles Championship during all four years of her career. Moulton-Levy and junior Katarina Zoricic also nabbed a berth in the NCAA Doubles Championship. The 2007 national runner-ups will attempt to garner All-America accolades for the second straight season. In order to do so, the pair will have to advance to the quarterfinals of the 32-team field or finish the season in the national top-10 in the doubles rankings. The 2008 NCAA Championships are slated for May 15-26 in Tulsa, Okla., at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The team championship will be played May 15-20 with the singles and doubles championships to follow, May 21-26.

Complete Women's Tennis Division I NCAA Team Championship Bracket (PDF)