BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin Wallace University women's tennis team, 18-7 overall, riding a school-record 15-match winning streak and the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and Tournament champions, faces Calvin College of Michigan in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Division III National Tournament at the University of Chicago on Thursday, May 13. Action from the Stagg Field Courts in Chicago is set to begin at 10:00 a.m. Central Standard Time.
"We are extremely pleased to be representing Baldwin Wallace University and the Ohio Athletic Conference and look forward to playing a quality opponent like Calvin in the regional tournament," said 26-year veteran Head Coach Jack Bethlenfalvy. "Our young ladies are excited to play in the NCAA Tournament and the challenge that Calvin poses."
"This has been an exciting season with some very close matches," said Bethlenfalvy. "The ladies have played well and handled the pressure. I think our tough, early-season schedule helped quite a bit. We are having a tremendous season so far."
The University of Chicago, ranked third nationally in Division III, hosts the six-team regional and is the top seed in the upper part of the bracket while BW is listed in the bottom portion. The first round is on Thursday, the semifinals on Friday, May 14 and the regional championship match on Saturday, May 15. The regional winner advances to the Final Eight on May 26-27 at the Battleground Tennis Complex in Fredricksburg, Virginia.
In the top part of the bracket, Webster University of Missouri (11-4 overall) faces Grove City College of Pennsylvania (11-2 overall) on Thursday with the winner facing hist Chicago on Friday. In the bottom of the bracket, BW plays Calvin with the winner facing Washington University of Missouri.
The Yellow Jackets, under the direction of Bethlenlenfalvy (296-190 career mark with three OAC titles), have won three of the last four OAC regular season and OAC Tournament titles and won the OAC's first-ever women's tennis match in NCAA competition with a 5-4 win versus Albion College of Michigan in 2007. Calvin enters the match with a 17-3 overall record and as the champion of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
The Yellow Jackets and Calvin have one common opponent, that being OAC rival Otterbein College. BW beat Otterbein twice this season, both by identical 5-4 scores. Calvin beat the Cardinals, 8-1.
The Yellow Jackets are led by junior number one singles standout Caitlyn Pecinovsky (Whitehall/ Columbus Bishop Hartley), arguably the best player in the OAC this spring. She is joined in the starting lineup by sophomore Jenny Greene (Worthington/ Thomas Worthington) at No.2, freshman Rebecca Mittler (Elyria/ Catholic) at No.3, junior Emily Pelosi (Uniontown/ Green) at No.4, senior Andrea Essig (Conneaut/ Ashtabula Edgewood) at No.5 and junior Katy Marshall (Medina/ Senior) at No.6. In doubles, Pecinovsky and Mittler form the No.1 duo, Pelosi and Greene are the No.2 tandem and Essig and Marshall play at No.3.
After 25 dual matches and one fall tournament, Pelosi and Marshall are tied for the team lead in singles wins with 18 each. Pelosi is 18-5 overall and Marshall is 18-7. Pecinovsky and Mittler are tied for third with 15 wins each and both have identical 15-9 marks. Greene is next with a 15-12 slate and Essig has a 10-14 overall record. In doubles play, Pecinovsky and Mittler have a team-leading 15 wins and are 15-12 overall. Essig and Marshall are second with 14 wins and a 14-10 mark, and Greene and Pelosi are 13-10 overall.
Calvin enters the regional with a five-match winning streak and is led by junior No.1 player Melissa Oosterhouse, who is ranked 13th individually in the Central Region and has a perfect 21-0 singles mark.
FOR MORE BW Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Nick Minerd by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at nminerd@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
