HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's tennis team will enter postseason play for the first time since making the transition to Division I, playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship this weekend, hosted at the UNF Tennis Complex in Jacksonville, Florida.
NKU enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed after posting a 6-15 overall record and a 1-5 mark in A-Sun play during the regular season. The Norse will take on No. 4 seed Lipscomb in the opening round on Friday. First serve is set for 11:30 a.m. The winner of that match will advance to a semifinal matchup against top seed North Florida on Saturday.
Fans can follow the team's progress in the A-Sun Championship by following @NKUNorse and @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter. In addition to match updates, fans can interact with the team through behind-the-scenes video streams through the Periscope app.
Sydney Power is the team's wins leader in singles play, picking up eight victories over the course of the season. Three other players added seven wins on the season in a balanced Norse lineup. In doubles play, NKU's most regular pairing has been its most successful, as
Danielle Donahue and
Hailey Shanahan have put up six wins playing primarily in the top doubles flight.
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM: For her efforts throughout the season,
Sydney Power was honored on Wednesday as a part of the A-Sun All-Freshman team. The Powell, Ohio, native has worked her way up the lineup over the course of the season, now playing primarily in the No. 2 singles flight, where she has claimed five of her eight victories this season.
A WORD ABOUT LIPSCOMB: The Lady Bisons stand at 12-9 overall and posted a 3-3 mark in conference play to claim the No. 4 seed. Lipscomb enters the championship as winners of three straight, all against A-Sun opponents. Lipscomb has four players in double-digits for wins in singles play, led by Laura Kent, a first-team all-conference selection, and Jenny Borck, who earned second-team honors, with 14 wins each. Dehana Welcher's 11 wins helped her to a second-team nod, while Melissa Kromer has 10 wins on the year. In doubles play, Welcher and Borck lead the way with a 13-7 record.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE LADY BISONS:
Hailey Shanahan picked up a victory in the top-flight match as the Norse fell by a 6-1 score. Shanahan defeated Hannah Gamage, 6-1, 6-2, to net NKU's only point. Power and
Sierra Nellessen each went to third-set super tiebreakers in their respective matches, but came up just short in victory bids.
A WORD ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA: The Ospreys ran the table in A-Sun play en route to a 15-3 overall record during the regular season, with two of those losses coming to nationally-ranked opponents to open the spring season. UNF comes into the tournament on a seven-match winning streak after a 6-1 win over Louisiana last Friday. Michelle Valdez earned first-team all-conference honors as one of UNF's 20-win singles players. Six different Ospreys were named to the second team, including all three of UNF's doubles teams.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE OSPREYS: NKU opened A-Sun play with a 5-0 loss to North Florida on March 20. The Ospreys took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, while four singles victories closed out the North Florida win.
