NORFOLK, Va. — Coming on the heels of winning the Sun Belt Conference title for the second year in a row on Sunday, the Old Dominion women's tennis team learned of their NCAA Tournament location on Monday night and they're heading to Raleigh, North Carolina.
66th-ranked ODU (17-5) faces 19th-ranked South Carolina (17-7) at 11 a.m. Saturday morning on the campus of N.C. State. The winner of that match will take on the winner of N.C. State and S.C. State on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the regional final.
"It's our fifth straight appearance, and it is a privilege to play in this. In the NCAA Tournament everyone is good. I think South Carolina's number one and two players have been ranked tops nationally before. We look forward to competing with them Saturday," said ODU Head Coach Dominic Manilla.
The Monarchs enter the tournament winners of 13 matches in a row after capturing their second straight Sun Belt Tournament crown and fourth straight league crown on Sunday defeating App State 4-2.
Lidiia Rasskouskaia enters the tournament with a team best 19-1 record this spring and has won her last 12 matches. Ulyana Romanova is 16-4 mainly at No. 6 in the lineup, while Alexandra Viktorovitch is 14-4 and has won her last 12 matches in a row mainly at the No. 2 spot. Junior Sofia Johnson is 12-4 at the top of the lineup. In doubles, Johnson and Rasskouskaia lead the Monarchs with a 14-5 record this spring at No. 1.
Johnson was named Sun Belt Player of the Year and earned first team All-Conference honors in singles and in doubles with Rasskouskaia. Viktorovitch joined Johnson on first team All-Conference singles, while Romanova was named Freshman of the Year and Rasskouskaia was also named Player to Watch in the league. Manilla was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year for the second straight year.
South Carolina lost its second-round match to Florida in the SEC Tournament 4-3 on April 19. Ayana Akli is ranked 10th nationally playing the top spot in their lineup and has a 26-10 record. Sarah Hamner is ranked 17th nationally playing in the two spot and sports a 31-7 mark. Those two are ranked 26th nationally in doubles with a 10-9 mark this spring at the top spot of the lineup.
These teams met last year in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with ODU taking a 4-2 victory.
ODU women to face South Carolina in NCAA tennis opener Saturday
These teams met last year in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with the Monarchs taking a 4-2 victory.