Luther Travels to Gustavus Adolphus for the First Three rounds of the NCAA tournament
May 5, 2009
The NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Committee has selected the 47 teams that will participate in the NCAA Division III National Tennis Championships.
The teams will play a single-elimination tournament with the first, second and third rounds played at eight regional sites. Oglethorpe University and the Gwinnett Sports Commission will co-host the team championships finals, which will be held May 19-21 at Collins Hill Athletic Club in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Student-athletes selected to the individual championships will be announced Wednesday, May 6.
Luther was the Iowa Conference automatic qualifier for the national tournament after capturing the title of the league’s four-team National Qualifier Tournament held April 25. The Norse defeated regular season champions Coe 5-2 in the title match. Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., will host the first, second and third rounds May 7-9.
Luther (30-9) will face St. Scholastica (17-9) in the first round on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. These two teams have met twice during the regular season with Luther winning both matches. Edgewood (13-8) and Wheaton, Ill. (16-4) will face each other in the other opening round match. The winners will advance to second round action on Friday. If Luther wins its opening round match, it will play Gustavus Adolphus (21-9) at 11:30 a.m. The winner of the Edgewood - Wheaton match will face UW-Whitewater (23-3). The winners of Friday’s matches will play on Saturday, May 9 at Noon for the opportunity to advance to the team championship.
Luther is making its ninth appearance in the national tournament, first since 2002, and first under the direction of Head Coach Brian Huinker. During his three years at the helm of the Norse program, he has tallied a record of 52-29.
