From Cedrique Flemming
Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations
INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 21-ranked Northeastern State women’s tennis team landed atop the first installment of the NCAA Central Region rankings, the National Collegiate Athletics Association announced Wednesday afternoon.
The top seven programs from the central region will advance to the 2015 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship opening rounds, which will be held May 2-5 on campus sites. The top team from the region will host Nos. 4 and 5 and earn a bye to the second round, while the team that lands at No. 2 will host Nos. 3, 6 and 7. The two teams left standing following those two rounds of competition will advance to the NCAA Round of 16, which will be held May 13-16 at the Surprise Tennis & Raquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona.
The next set of regional rankings will be released April 15, and the final NCAA Selection Show will be held at 7:30 p.m. April 28 on NCAA.com. The NCAA Central Region is comprised of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, the Great American Conference and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Six MIAA teams fell in the top 9 of the central region rankings, led by Northeastern State. Other MIAA teams include No. 2 Southwest Baptist and No. 3 Northwest Missouri State, both who have suffered 8-1 losses to the RiverHawks this season.
NSU boasts a record of 11-3 overall and an 11-0 mark against in-region competition. The RiverHawks are 4-0 against teams that earned one of the top nine spots in the central region. Northeastern State still has No. 8 Emporia State (April 12) and No. 9 Missouri Western State (April 18) remaining on its regular-season schedule.
Northeastern State earned a final central region ranking of No. 3 last season. The RiverHawks advanced to the Round of 16 for the second-straight year after defeating Nebraska-Kearney and Augustana in the first two rounds in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Next up for Northeastern State will be an MIAA match against Washburn at 2 p.m. April 10 in Tahlequah.
2015 NCAA CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS (April 8)
School Overall Record In-Region Record
- Northeastern State (MIAA) 11-3 11-0
- Southwest Baptist (MIAA) 14-1 12-1
- Northwest Missouri State (MIAA) 11-5 11-4
- Southeastern Oklahoma State (GAC) 8-4 7-3
- Arkansas Tech (GAC) 8-3 6-3
- Nebraska-Kearney (MIAA) 13-3 12-3
- Augustana (NSIC) 10-0 10-0
- Emporia State (MIAA) 6-6 6-5
- Missouri Western State (MIAA) 4-4 4-4