Draws released as Lewis and Fox prepare for finals
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The NCAA has released the draws for the Division III Women's Tennis national singles and doubles championships brackets as the tournaments begin on Friday at the Pauley Tennis Complex hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Claremont, Calif.
For Chapman University seniors Liz Lewis and Kelley Fox the tournament will be their final opportunity at a national title. The No. 4-ranked doubles team in the West Region drew a familiar opponent in Janelle Arita and Kelly Gebert from DePauw University in the first round of the doubles championship at 4 p.m. on Friday. The teams met at the ITA Indoor Championships in March with Arita and Gebert edging the Panthers 8-6 in a close match.
Lewis and Fox – Chapman's all-time leaders in doubles victories – enter the bracket with a record of 14-11 this season. They will be facing a DePauw duo that ended the season ranked No. 7 in the Central Region with a record of 29-8 overall in 2010-11. The winner of Chapman-DePauw will face the winner of Washington & Lee University (Va.) and the No. 4 seed in the event Amherst College (Mass.).
For Chapman, it's the duo's third straight appearance at the NCAA national championships. They are 0-2 in their previous two appearances.
Lewis is also making her fourth consecutive appearance in the singles championships which begin on Friday morning. The senior earned a tough draw in the first round of 32 and will face No. 3 seed Kendra Higgins from the University of Chicago at 9 a.m. Lewis enters the match with a 14-6 record this season, while Higgins is 22-5 overall.
Lewis is 1-3 all-time at the event, but could use the "home" court to her advantage, as Southern California hosts the championships for the first time in her career. Lewis has had quite a bit of success in Claremont over the past four years, including winning the Fall West Regionals there twice. She is the Panthers' career leader in singles wins with a record of 81-20.
by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director
Fans can follow singles and doubles action live online:
http://www.pe.pomona.edu/NCAA/livescoring
NCAA Championships Website:
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/tennis-women/d3