BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin Wallace University women's tennis team, 18-7 overall and winners of its last seven matches, will compete in its fourth NCAA Division III National Tournament in the past five years when the Yellow Jackets travel to Greencastle, Indiana to play Wheaton (Ill.) College in a first round match on Thursday, May 12 at 10:00 a.m.  The winner of that match will face top-seeded and host DePauw University on Friday at 10:00 a.m.

Baldwin Wallace earned its NCAA berth last Saturday when Head Coach Jack Bethlenfalvy's Yellow Jackets upset No.1-seed Ohio Northern University, 6-0, in the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship Match to win for the seventh straight time and 12th time in their last 13 matches.  Virtually every year, Bethlenfalvy's team starts slowly due to the difficult preseason and spring break schedule that includes numerous NCAA Division II and quality Division III opponents, including an 8-1 win versus NCAA-tourney bound Elizabethtown (Pa.) College.
 
"It is my feeling that if we continually challenge the ladies during the fall, during the winter and on our annual spring break trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina that it will pay off when we play in the OAC and in the OAC Tournament," said Bethlenfalvy, the winningest women's tennis coach in BW, OAC and Ohio Collegiate history with a 314-198 career mark. "The theory has worked well for us, especially in the past five years."
 
"But ultimately it comes down to talent and the ladies commitment to excellence," continued Bethlenfalvy. "We have a great group of young women who are committed in the classroom and on the tennis court. Of our seven starters, six have a 3.5 grade point average or better and the other is well above 3.0.  Add that to the success that we have enjoyed on the court and its a clear indication that these young women are extremely competitive.  More than anything else, they are all great people. They are simply a joy to teach and coach."

Leading the way for Bethlenfalvy are his three senior standouts Caitlyn Pecinovsky (Whitehall/ Columbus Bishop Hartley), Emily Pelosi (Uniontown/ Green) and Katy Marshall (Medina). The trio will play in their third national tourney and have combined for 380 career singles and doubles wins and all three rank in the Top-10 all-time in wins at the school.
 
Pecinovsky starts at number-one singles and teams at No.1 doubles with sophomore No.3 singles player Rebecca Mittler (Elyria/ Elyria Catholic). Pecinovsky has played at No.1 for the past three seasons. This season, she has a 19-9 singles mark and has combined with Mittler for a 22-8 mark at No.1 doubles. For her career, Pecinovsky is sixth all-time in school history with 68 singles wins and a 68-41 record and fourth in doubles with 73 victories and a 73-46 slate. Mittler is 16-13 this season at No.3 and compiled a 15-9 slate at that position a year ago. Overall, she has 31 career singles and 38 career doubles triumphs.
 
Pelosi starts at No.5 singles and teams with junior No.4 singles standout Jenny Greene (Worthington/ Thomas Worthington) to form the No.2 doubles tandem. Pelosi is a four-year starter who has a career-high 22 wins and tops the team with a 22-8 singles mark. She and Greene have combined for an 18-5 doubles mark. Overall, Pelosi ranks fifth all-time in singles wins with 70 and a 70-33 career mark and is tied for eighth with 52 doubles wins and a 52-39 doubles mark. Greene is second on the squad with 20 singles victories and is 20-6 this season. In three seasons, Greene already ranks 16th all-time in singles wins with 45 and a 45-35 career mark and she is 10th all-time in doubles wins with 51 and has a 51-34 career mark.
 
Marshall is battling with freshman Morgan Baker (Vermilion/ Elyria Catholic) for the No.6 singles spot and the final spot on the No.3 doubles team.  She has an 18-9 singles mark this season and ranks sixth all-time with 54 wins and a 54-31 career mark. In doubles play, Marshall and Baker have a 12-8 slate this season. In doubles play, Marshall ranks sixth all-time with 63 wins and a 63-49 career mark (her older sister, Krista Marshall is fifth all-time with 69 career doubles triumphs). Baker, who started at No.6 singles and No.3 doubles at the OAC tourney, has a 2-6 singles mark. In addition to playing with Marshall in doubles, she has a 2-1 doubles mark with Hajji.
 
The final starter is junior Safaa Hajji from Morocco who joined the team this winter and has been a strong addition at No.2 singles and recently at No.3 doubles. Hajji has a 13-2 singles mark and has teammed with Marshall for a 0-1 record and with Baker for the 2-1 record.

In its past three trips to the NCAA tourney, BW has compiled a 1-3 record, including the first-ever win by an OAC school in the NCAA tourney when Bethlenfalvy's Yellow Jackets defeated Albion, Mich. College, 5-4, in 2008.

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