Bloomsburg Women's Tennis Hosts NCAA Regional Tournament

BLOOMSBURG- The Bloomsburg University women's tennis team will host the 2007 NCAA East Regional on May 3-4. The Huskies will compete along side Slippery Rock, Bentley and Millersville for the chance to go to the NCAA Final Sixteen in Altamonte Springs, Florida.

First round matches with be held on Thursday with Slippery Rock taking on Bentley at 1:00 p.m. and Bloomsburg battling Millersville at 4:00 p.m. The winners will then meet on Friday at 10:00 a.m.

Bloomsburg, 17-3 on the season, is making its 11th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies are ranked 30th in the latest Fila Division II National Poll and second in the East region. Leading the way is senior Emily Murphy and freshman Katie Hasyn. Murphy is 14-10 on the year playing at mostly number one singles, while Hasyn is 18-6 seeing time mostly at number two singles.

The Huskies have wins against each of the teams competing in the regional tournament. In March, Bloomsburg downed Millersville 8-0 and in April at the Bloomsburg Duals, the Huskies defeated Bentley 5-0. Against Slippery Rock, Bloomsburg is 2-0 this season with the latest victory coming in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semi-final.

Millersville enters the tournament with a record of 6-5 on the season. The Marauders will have their work cut out for them this weekend, coming into the tournament with a 0-3 record against the other tournament teams. The Marauders will need their top players, senior Christy Lilli and junior Melissa Berg, to step up in order to advance.

Slippery Rock, ranked 34th in the Fila/ITA national poll and third in the east region, comes into the championships with a record of 22-5. The 22 wins broke a school record and is just the third time in school history that Slippery Rock has posted at least 20 wins. Kayla Blackburn and Laura Handy are the top players for "the Rock". They will play at number one and two singles respectively.

Slippery Rock defeated Millersville 8-1 and 5-0 this season but dropped a PSAC semi-final contest to Bloomsburg by a score of 5-3.

Bentley returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003 after falling to Bryant College in the Northeast-10 conference semi-finals. The Falcons are seeded sixth in the East and have a 14-10 overall record. Kelly Fleszar and Kelly Nugent have been the top performers for Bentley this season. Fleszar has racked up a 15-12 record playing mostly number two singles while Nugent has a 19-7 singles record. As a doubles team, the pair has an 18-5 record.

Of the teams in the tournament, Bentley has only had a match against Bloomsburg this season. The Falcons lost to the Huskies by a score of 5-0 at the Bloomsburg Duals.

Tournament information including schedules, bracket, directions and lodging/dining options as well as results can be found at http://www.buhuskies.com.