No. 59 Terriers and No. 11 Bruins Ready for NCAA First Round Match Saturday

Senior Cori Lefkowith practices Friday afternoon at UCLA's tennis courts

Senior Cori Lefkowith practices Friday afternoon at UCLA's tennis courts

May 8, 2009

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LOS ANGELES - The 59th-ranked Boston University women's tennis team (15-5) will open the NCAA tournament with 11th-seeded and defending national champion UCLA (17-6) Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The two teams will face off for the second-time ever with the Bruins winning the first meeting, 6-0, during the first round of the 2000 NCAAs.

The Terriers secured an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the America East championship for the 16th year in a row with a 4-1 win over Binghamton. This will be their 11th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.

2009 America East Player and Rookie of the Year Stefanie Nunic will enter the match with a 20-10 singles record, including a 6-6 mark at No. 1 singles, while 2008 AE Player of the Year Francine Whu has a 17-10 record, including 8-2 at No. 2 singles. The two teammates earned first-team all-league honors for singles and No. 1 doubles. Senior Cori Lefkowith leads the team with 23 wins and the fewest losses at five. She has an overall record of 14-2 at No. 4.

The Bruins are led by first-team all-Pac-10 member and 15th-ranked Yasmin Schnack, who takes a 26-8 record into the NCAAs, including a 10-3 mark at No. 1 singles. She and teammate Andrea Remynse are seeded third in the 32-team NCAA doubles tournament draw and hold a record of 20-6 together.

Arizona State (11-8) will face UNLV (20-7) in the first match, set to begin at 12 p.m. ET.