Top Seed WTEN To Host Regionals

CHAPEL HILL - The North Carolina women's tennis team has earned its first ever No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Team Championship, and were selected as a host regional site for the opening two rounds with action beginning Friday at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

Live streaming and scoring will be available again this year for the NCAA Regionals in Chapel Hill.

Carolina will open its doors to host Arkansas, Old Dominion and South Carolina State. Additionally, the sixth-seeded UNC men's tennis team is hosting home matches Saturday and Sunday.

Arkansas and Old Dominion begin the women's portion of the weekend on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by UNC and South Carolina State at 1 p.m.

Winners from Friday will go head-to-head Saturday at 4 p.m. for the right to advance to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, for the NCAA Round of 16 on Sunday, May 16.

North Carolina (26-0) is making its 22nd successive appearance in the NCAA Team Championship and 17th in a row under the leadership of head coach Brian Kalbas. The five-time reigning ACC champions own a 48-21 mark in NCAA competition, and have advanced beyond the regionals every season since 2010 and 15 times overall.

Ticket Info
Tickets are on sale now for the 1st and 2nd round of the men's and women's NCAA tournament. Tickets are $5 apiece and inventory is limited due to capacity restrictions. The ticket for Friday is good for both matches of the women's first round and the men's first round ticket is good for both men's matches on Saturday. The stadium will be cleared on Saturday in between the men's first round and women's second round, so two tickets would be needed that day for the separate rounds. If inclement weather occurs, the tournament will be moved inside and general public will not be allowed inside the tennis center. UNC will process refunds for matches played inside.

Opponent Capsules
South Carolina State (scsuathletics.com)
Location: Orangeburg, S.C.
Rankings: N/A
Record: 6-4, 3-0 MEAC
Bid: Automatic Qualifier (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion)
Carolina Series History in NCAA Tournament: Carolina leads 4-0 (UNC won first-round matches 4-0 in 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2019)

The Bulldogs defeated Florida A&M 4-0 to win the 2021 MEAC title, its 15th overall title and the 14th in the last 16 seasons. SCSU boast MEAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year Rachida Berjane, as well as MEAC Championship outstanding Performer Lasya Patnaik.

Arkansas (arkansasrazorbacks.com)
Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Team Ranking: No. 33
Singles/Doubles Rankings: Indianna Spink (45); Morgan Cross/Tatum Rice (36)
Record: 11-10, 4-9 SEC
Bid: At-Large
Carolina Series History in NCAA Tournament: Arkansas leads 2-0 (UA won a first round match in 2000, 5-2 in Clemson, South Carolina, and a second round match, 4-3, in Chapel Hill in 2008 in what was the last loss for the Tar Heels at home in the NCAA Regionals.

Arkansas is making its 19th trip to the NCAA Championship, but first since 2017. Indianna Spink earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors and was selected first team All-ACC as well. She is the first Razorback to earn top freshman honors in the league since the creation of the award in 2000. Spink is also the first Arkansas rookie to be named to the SEC first team. Classmate Morgan Cross landed on the SEC All-Freshman Team.

Old Dominion (ODUsports.com)
Location: Norfolk, Virginia
Team Ranking: No. 29
Singles/Doubles Rankings: Yulia Starodubsteva (51), Tatsiana Sasnouskaya (78), Holly Hutchinson (109); Hutchinson/Sasnouskaya (71)
Record: 16-7, 9-0 Big South
Bid: Automatic Qualifier (Big South champion)
Carolina Series History in NCAA Tournament: Carolina leads 1-0 (UNC won a first-round match 4-0 in 2004)

ODU has won 10 matches in a row and captured the program's second-ever conference championship and in Conference USA. Head coach Dominic Manilla earned Conference USA Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive season, junior Yulia Starodubtseva was named the C-USA Player of the Year, Tatsianna Sasnouskaya was tagged as the Freshman of the Year and Holly Hutchinson was the Outstanding Singles Player at the C-USA Championship.

NCAA Chapel Hill Regional Schedule
Friday, May 7
9 a.m. Gates Open
W: 10 a.m. Arkansas vs. Old Dominion
W: 1 p.m. North Carolina vs. South Carolina State

Saturday, May 8
9 a.m. Gates Open
M: 10 a.m. Oklahoma State vs. Navy
M: 1 p.m. North Carolina vs. Presbyterian
W: 4 p.m. Second Round

Sunday, May 9
Noon Gates Open
M: 1 p.m. Second Round

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