Complete bracket
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College will play Johns Hopkins University in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Tournament at Denison University Thursday at 2:00 p.m., the NCAA has announced.
The Blue Jays (15-4 overall) won their fourth Commonwealth Conference championship in the last six years with a 5-0 victory over Lebanon Valley College Saturday afternoon, and will be making their second appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament in the last three years. In their only other trip to the NCAA playoffs, the Blue Jays lost to Methodist University 5-1 in 2008.
Elizabethtown is led by co-Commonwealth Conference playoff Most Valuable Players
Emily Swarr and
Jess Russell, who keyed the sweep of the Flying Dutchmen with an 8-5 victory at flight one of doubles.
Swarr has a 12-9 record this season at flight one singles, while Russell is 13-8 overall at flight two. As a doubles pair, they have a 13-8 record this season including a 12-5 mark in dual matches.
A quartet of first-year players have excelled at flights three through six this season, as
Allison Burkhardt is 14-9 at flight three,
Madison Pipkin has a 17-7 record at flight four,
Alena Marani has posted an 18-4 record at flight five and
Kristi Noecker is 21-3 at flight six.
Noecker has tied the program's single-season record for singles wins (21), while Burkhardt and Pipkin have combined for a 21-3 record at flight two of doubles to set a new single-season school mark.
Johns Hopkins (15-8 overall) are ranked 15th in Division III and won its fourth consecutive Centennial Conference championship with a 5-0 victory over Swarthmore College.
The winner of Thursday's match will play ninth-ranked DePauw University in a regional semifinal match on Friday, with the regional finals set for Saturday.