Women's Tennis To Face Duke In NCAA Tournament
05/03/2011 | Women's Tennis
May 3, 2011
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. -
The 2011 Atlantic 10 champion Spiders will square off against third-ranked Duke Saturday May 14 at 12 p.m. in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament in Durham, N.C.
Richmond enters the postseason having won its third-straight and conference-record eighth A-10 crown. Richmond owns a 14-5 record and has won five matches in a row. A-10 Coach of the Year Mark Wesselink guided Richmond to its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, seventh in the last eight years, and its 17th winning season. It was the sixth time Wesselink garnered the award.
Helen Cunningham, Joanna Matuszczyk were tabbed to the All Conference first team, while Kelly Tidwell earned second team and All Academic honors.
Cunningham and Matuszczyk both earned All Conference first team honors after leading the Spiders at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. Matuszczyk went 12-5 in singles action and 11-8 in doubles play. Matuszczyk was named A-10 Player of the Week Mar. 7 and earned a Rookie of the Week nod her freshman year. Cunningham was an All Conference second team selection her freshman year.
Tidwell grabbed second team and All Academic honors for the Spiders, as she posted an impressive 3.92 grade point average in business administration. Tidwell has garnered All Conference recognition in every year of her career.
The Blue Devils matchup with the Spiders will be the seventh meeting between the two schools, with Duke holding a 6-0 advantage in the all-time series.
Duke enters the tournament with a 22-4 overall record and is ranked third in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll.
Duke and Richmond will square off on Saturday, May 14th, at 12 p.m. following the completion of the Yale versus William & Mary matchup that is scheduled for 9 a.m. All of the first and second round matches will be held at Ambler Tennis Stadium.
