By snoadmin
For the fourth consecutive year, the Long Beach State women’s tennis team will play in the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 44-ranked 49ers (17-8) will head to Fresno next week to play No. 20 Pepperdine (19-9) in the first round of the 64-team tournament. The pairings were announced Tuesday.
LBSU automatically qualified for the tournament, which was announced Tuesday, by winning the Big West Conference last Sunday, beating Cal Poly 4-0 in the final.
The match against Pepperdine will be a rematch between the two schools, as Pepperdine beat LBSU 5-2 in a non-conference match in Malibu on Feb. 25.
In the other first round match up in Fresno, No. 14 Fresno State will face Army (15-10).
“We did get a favorable draw,” said LBSU head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. “[Pepperdine] is a tough team, but we are definitely going to be in the match.”
LBSU won’t be at full strength when it heads to Fresno. The 49ers all-time match winner, Sandra Rocha, will not play at all in the NCAA Tournament. She had shoulder surgery this week to correct an ailing problem. Freshman Denise Leibschner will take Rocha’s spot in the lineup.
“With a full lineup, we would have a legitimate shot,” Hilt-Costello said. “It’s just tougher when you are not at full strength and have a freshman in the lineup that has only played one match all year. But we are playing well right now, so it is possible [that we can advance to the third round].”
The team will go into the NCAA Tournament with the Big West Conference Player of the Year, sophomore Hannah Grady, who was named conference player of the year for the second consecutive season Tuesday afternoon.
Grady finished the season with an 18-7 singles record and has won 13 of her last 14 matches.
“I think with [Grady’s] strong play in the conference tournament last week, she proved she is the best player in the conference,” Hilt-Costello said.
