FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2006

MSSU women's tennis makes NCAA Tournament field
Lions in tourney for second time in three years

JOPLIN, Mo. - Missouri Southern State University's women's tennis program is one of 62 programs around the country selected for the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The Lions (12-7) will play as the No. 3 seed in the North Central Regional. Southern faces off with No. 6 seed North Dakota (12-5) on Friday, May 5 at 1 p.m. The other first round regional matchup pits No. 2 seed Nebraska-Omaha (10-7) against No. 7 Colorado State-Pueblo (14-8).

The first round winners will meet Saturday, May 6, at 10 a.m. for the right to advance to the round of 16 on May 10 in Kansas City, Mo.

Missouri Southern won 11 of its last 13 regular season matches of the season and finished as 2006 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Tournament runner-up.

This marks the second time in three years that the Lions have advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament. In 2004, Southern entered as a No. 7 seed and dropped a first-round match to Northwest Missouri State.

Others to advance in the North Central Region include MIAA foes Northwest Missouri State (18-2), Emporia State (16-7), Truman State (15-7) and Washburn (13-9). Top seed NWMSU is the host for the other side of the North Central Regional.

Nebraska-Omaha and Northwest Missouri State earned automatic bids to the national tourney by winning the North Central Conference and MIAA crowns, respectively. The entire NCAA Division II Tournament field was announced Wednesday (April 26).

The matches in Omaha take place at the Koch Tennis Center at Tranquility Park.