April 27, 1998
For Immediate Release
Contact: Judy Willson, SID
505.562.4309 or 356-4755
(Portales, N.M.) --- The Eastern New Mexico University women's tennis team has been selected to participate in the 1998 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship Tournament. ENMU will travel to Abilene, Texas for one of three regional tournaments being played on May 1-2 to determine three of the Midwest regions' four representatives to the NCAA Division II National Tournament May 8-11 in Springfield, Missouri.
Eastern New Mexico will be in a four-team regional with the University of Southern Colorado, Ferris State (Mich.) University and host Abilene Christian University. The Zias will face ACU in the first round on Friday, May 1 at noon (MDT). Southern Colorado and Ferris State will play in the morning. The winners of the two matches will play at 8:00 am (MDT) on Saturday, May 2 for the chance to advance to the NCAA finals the next week. The other Midwest Regional sites are University of Central Oklahoma and Washburn University in Kansas. The University of Northern Colorado, as the #1 seed in the Midwest Region, has already received an automatic berth to the national tournament.
The Zias, under head coach Christine Blaeser, are 7-9 this season and finished 7th at the Lone Star Conference Tournament in Abilene, Texas over the weekend. ENMU has been ranked as high as #26 in NCAA Division II this season. Senior #1 singles player Alejandra Miralles (Alicante, Spain) is currently #37 in the latest NCAA Division II poll, released on April 22. Miralles and #1 doubles partner Julie Stiles (So., Roswell) are currently #27 in NCAA Division II doubles. ENMU made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season.