UMass Tennis Earns No. 2 Seed for Atlantic 10 Championship

Minutewomen receive first-round bye and will begin action on Friday, April 22 at 1:30 p.m.


AMHERST, Mass. - After posting a 14-6 regular-season record with a 3-0 mark against league foes, the UMass women's tennis team has been selected as the No. 2 seed for the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship. The Minutewomen finished the tournament last season as runner-ups to VCU which earned the No. 1 seed as the three-time defending champions.

The A-10 Championship will run Thursday, April 21 through Sunday, April 24 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, which has hosted the A-10 Men’s or Women's Championships the last four years (2012- 2015). Admission will be free for each day of competition.

As the No. 2 seed, the Minutewomen earned a first-round bye and will take on the winner of No. 7
George Washington/No. 10 George Mason this Friday, April 22 at 1:30 p.m. UMass returns the bulk of its lineup that went to the A-10 Championship Final last season, including reigning Rookie of the Year, Ana Yrazusta. This year's impressive rookie performance has come from Ruth Crawford, who stepped into the top singles position for UM, finishing 14-6 in dual matches this spring.

VCU (9-9) finished its spring campaign on a season high four-match win streak, defeating James Madison, 4-3 to end the season. In doubles play, the Rams are led by No. 85 Olga Barshcheuskaya and Darya Berezhnaya who are 9-3 together in the top spot. VCU faced five top 100 ranked opponents, taking down No. 70 Winthrop late in the season. Freshman Anna Rasmussen has been a bright spot for VCU, improving to a team-best 15-8 in singles action. The Rams earn a first round bye and will face the winner of No. 8 Fordham/No. 9 Dayton on Friday at 10:00 am.

Thursday's first-round action opens at 9:00 am with No. 4 Saint Louis (18-4) taking on No. 13 Rhode Island (1-15) and No. 5 Richmond (12-8) facing No. 12 St. Bonaventure (5-13). The winners face off in Friday's 10:00 am quarterfinal match.


In the second session session of the day, No. 8 Fordham (10-6) will face off against No. 9 Dayton (14-9) and No. 3 Davidson (15-4) will challenge No. 14 La Salle (0-10) at noon. The winner of Fordham/Dayton earns a spot in Friday's 10:00 am quarterfinal match against top-seeded VCU, while the Davidson/La Salle winner will take on the winner of Duquesne/Saint Joseph's at 1:30 pm.

Thursday's final session will feature No. 6 Duquesne (15-5) against No. 11 Saint Joseph's (8-13) and No. 7 George Washington (6-13) versus No. 10 George Mason (9-14), both beginning at 3:00 pm. The winner of GW/George Mason will take on No. 2 Massachusetts.

The semifinals will be played Saturday at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm and the championship finale is Sunday at 10:00 am. The winner of the 2016 Atlantic 10 Women’s Tennis Championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.