Duo headed back to women's tennis national championships

ORANGE, Calif. –  Chapman University women’s tennis players Liz Lewis and Kelley Fox are headed back to the NCAA Division III national championships. The Panthers’ 1-2 punch were both selected to the singles championships and the duo will also compete for the second year in a row in the doubles bracket.

The Division III championships will be held May 28-30 at the Battleground Tennis Complex in Fredericksburg, Virginia – hosted by the University of Mary Washington. The pair is two of 32 individual participants selected to the singles tournament and earning All-America honors. They will compete as one of 16 doubles teams, as well.

Lewis, a junior, will make her third career appearance at the women’s championships and is currently ranked No. 10 in Division III singles and No. 1 in the West Region. She is 0-2 in NCAA championships play, but won the Small Colleges Championships tournament in Mobile, Alabama last October.

The three-time All-American recently had a 24-match winning streak snapped when she lost in the quarterfinals at the Ojai Valley Tournament last month. She is currently 24-1 overall this season and becomes the first three-time All-America selection in Chapman women’s tennis history.

Meanwhile, her teammate Fox, also a junior was selected to the singles championships for the first time in her career after climbing into the top-eight of the West Region rankings. Fox is 13-5 overall and had a six-match winning streak that included an upset win over No. 43-ranked Rachael Miller from University of Redlands. Fox, who earned All-America honors in doubles last season becomes just the third two-time All-America honoree at Chapman.

Lewis and Fox are also the top-ranked doubles team in the West Region entering postseason play. The duo is 12-6 after reaching the quarterfinals in Ojai. They were knocked out in the first round of last year’s championships.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director