INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The Tusculum University women's tennis team remains third in the latest NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings, through matches of April 28.
The Pioneers have been idle since finishing as runner-up to Wingate in the South Atlantic Conference Championship tournament. Tusculum has a 17-3 overall record and went 10-0 in the SAC during the season to earn the conference regular-season championship.
Wingate, which clinched an NCAA automatic berth by winning the SAC tournament championship, holds down the top ranking in the region. Columbus State, champions of the Peach Belt Conference and also an automatic qualifier, is ranked second followed by Tusculum, North Georgia and Queens in the top five. Flagler is ranked sixth, followed by Georgia College, USC Aiken and Lenoir-Rhyne.
The only change in the poll from the previous week was the swap of eighth and ninth place between USC Aiken and Lenoir-Rhyne. Wingate was the only ranked team to play last week, winning 7-0 over West Virginia Wesleyan. Emmanuel, which is unranked, also earned an automatic bid as champion of Conference Carolinas.
Seven teams will be selected to participate in the NCAA Southeast Regional. The top two seeds will be host sites for regional play on May 13 and 14, with the site winners moving on to the national tournament May 22-25 in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
The rankings are the official poll utilized in the championship selection process by the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Committee. The NCAA Championship selections will be revealed Tuesday, May 7 at 8:30 p.m.
The latest ITA Division II rankings were also released and show Tusculum up one position to 16th in the nation. Individually, junior Annie McCullough is ranked 33rd in singles and 22nd in doubles with partner Caitlin McCullough. Also in doubles, the team of juniors Africa Mota and Julia Lopez is ranked 49th this week.
NCAA Division II Southeast Region Rankings through April 28 1. Wingate 21-1 2. Columbus St. 21-3 3. TUSCULUM 17-3 4. North Georgia 17-5 5. Queens (NC) 13-4 6. Flagler 16-6 7. Georgia College 12-8 8. S.C. Aiken 14-4 9. Lenoir-Rhyne 17-5
