Ithaca Women's Tennis to Face Nichols in Opening Round of NCAA Tournament
NCAA Release | Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Tournament revealed its bracket on Monday afternoon. The Bombers will face Nichols College in an opening round match to be played at Tufts on either Thursday, May 11, or Friday, May 12. The winner will play Tufts in the NCAA Second Round on either Friday, May 12, or Saturday, May 13. Official days and start times will be announced in the coming days.
The Ithaca women clinched their berth to the NCAA Tournament way back during the fall portion of its schedule, completing a perfect run through the Empire 8 to capture their 12
th consecutive conference title as well as the league's automatic berth. The matchup against Nichols will be the 11
th time in program history that the IC women have qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
The Bombers are 6-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. Opening round matches have been favorable to IC over recent seasons; however, the team was bested in a 5-0 sweep in its matchup against SUNY Geneseo in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Ithaca in opening round games, spanning a stretch from 2011-12-to-2014-15. Ithaca has never met Nichols or Tufts in the NCAA Tournament.
Ithaca posted a perfect 10-0 record during the its primary season this past fall. It was the second consecutive year that the Bombers navigated an undefeated Empire 8 slate. The Bombers have gone 3-7 during the spring portion of its schedule, a slate entirely made up of non-conference opponents. Highlighting Ithaca's spring campaign was a 6-3 victory over SUNY New Paltz, which was its first victory over the Hawks dating back to 2010. The Bombers also scored wins over Colby-Sawyer and NCAA Division II Bloomsburg during their spring trip to Orlando, Fla., in the middle of March.
Nichols College enters the tournament with a 16-3 record. The Bison swept through an undefeated campaign in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) this past fall, winning their first conference title since the 2010-11 season. Nichols has only played two matches this spring, scoring victories over Saint Anselm and Emerson.