After winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title Sunday against Drake, the Illinois State womens tennis team receives notification Thursday afternoon as to which site it will be playing at in the NCAA Regional.
In a process similar to the mens basketball tournament selection, 31 teams earn automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournament. The remaining 33 bids are at-large selections made by the NCAA selection committee.
The tournament begins on May 12 and consists of 16 regional sites, also to be announced Thursday, with four teams at each site. The winner of each regional advances to the round of 16 and the NCAA Championships held at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Ga., May 17-26.
Head coach Chris Hoover is optimistic about his teams chances in the tournament.
Id like to hope that we might get a No. 3 seed, Hoover said. It would be such a complement to our team, but thats an outside shot. We will probably go as a No. 4 seed and play one of the top teams in the country.
The Redbirds (21-5, 9-0 MVC) learn their opponent and site Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in a live internet broadcast at
www.ncaachampionships.com.
