INDIANAPOLIS – In a poll with four South Atlantic Conference programs, Carson-Newman women's tennis saw its name sitting in seventh in the first round of NCAA regional rankings, the guideline for the NCAA Tournament, released on Tuesday.
The top five teams make the NCAA Division II Playoffs with an automatic qualifier coming from the South Atlantic Conference, the Peach Belt Conference and Conference Carolinas. The first round of competition for the NCAA DII Women's Championship take place from May 6-7 from campus sites. The winner of the region will advance to the NCAA National Championships from May 17-21 in Orlando, Fla.
Conference Carolinas does not have a team in the top nine but will receive a bid from its conference tournament champion and be seeded eighth bumping a team from the SAC or Peach Belt.
The Peach Belt holds the top two spots in the first round of NCAA Southeast region rankings, as Columbus State occupies the overall slot with a DII record of 12-4, followed by Flagler at no. two with a DII record of 8-5.
Rounding out the Southeast regional top five, it is Queens (N.C.) in third with a record of 10-1, North Georgia of the PBC at number four with a record of 11-2, and Wingate of the SAC coming in fifth with a record of 12-6.
Then, right ahead of the Eagles is fellow SAC member Newberry in sixth. Then, the final two spots of the initial top nine are Augusta in eighth and Lander in ninth as both programs represent the Peach Belt.
Overall, C-N the Orange and Blue holds a record of 1-2 against the top 10, including a massive upset of Queens (N.C.) to hand the Royals their first loss of 2022. In one of the key performance indicators, Carson-Newman is 12-3 against the Southeast region and will have a chance to improve upon it with a matchup against the Catawba Indians on Saturday.
The official NCAA selection show is scheduled to air Tuesday, May 3, at 8:00 p.m. on ncaa.com where the 40 teams from Division II will be announced for the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championships.
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