May 6, 2008

Live Stats | NCAA tournament notes

BOSTON - The Boston University women's tennis team (11-7, 2-0 America East) will face fourth-seeded Stanford (19-4, 7-1 Pac-10) in an NCAA first-round matchup on Friday, May 9, at 1 p.m. in Stanford, Calif. at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

The Terriers secured an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the America East championship for the 15th year in a row with a 4-2 win over Binghamton. This will be their 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. Stanford enters the tournament after earning a share of the Pac-10 title after ending the season tied for first with UCLA. All six members of the Cardinal's singles lineup are nationally ranked, including freshman Hilary Barte who is ranked No. 3.

BU has played Stanford in the NCAA before. In the first round of the 2001 tournament the Cardinal claimed a 4-0 win at home. Five of the Terriers' 10 years in the NCAA they have made the trip to California, and in four of those matches, BU has played a top five seed.

Junior co-captains Danielle Abraham and Cori Lefkowith come into Friday's match on identical five-match win streaks. Neither player has lost since April 5. Sophomore Francine Whu, the 2008 America East Player of the Year, is riding a four-match streak after leading the Terriers to the 18th conference crown with two first singles wins.

No. 31 Texas A&M (16-8, 9-2 Big 12) will play No. 38 Washington (12-9, 2-6 Pac-10) at 10 a.m. in the first regional semifinal. The winners of Friday's matches will meet on Saturday, May 10, in the regional final at 12 p.m. The team that wins the regional will advance to the Round of 16 at the University of Tulsa starting on May 15.