Tartans Receive Third Straight NCAA Bid

May 1 - (INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) – The #14 Carnegie Mellon women’s tennis team received word late Monday that they would have the opportunity to compete for a national tennis title. This marks the third straight year the women’s team has earned the right to play in the NCAA Division III Championships.

Play for the Tartans (12-8) will start with a trip to Granville, Ohio where they will match up against Manchester College out of North Manchester, Indiana. The Spartans hold their conference championship season in the fall and were crowned champions of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference after defeating Rose-Hulman 5-2. The team finished their fall season at 11-1 and 8-0 in conference play and now holds a 16-3 record after spring contests.

The Tartans opening match is set for Friday, May 4 at 2:00 p.m. with the winner moving on to face host Denison University at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. DePauw and Denison, the top two ranked teams in the central region, respectively, received a bye into Saturday's second-round. The other regional quarterfinal match is between Albion (13-5) and Baldwin-Wallace (21-2) at 10:00 a.m. Friday. The Tartans saw #11 Denison earlier this season when the Big Red defeated them at home 6-3 in a tightly contested match.

Carnegie Mellon is led by junior Amy Staloch (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow) and senior Mona Iyer (Charleston, W.Va./George Washington). Staloch has a singles record of 22-9 and was named the University Athletic Association Women’s Tennis Player of the Year. Iyer is 15-10 at singles and combines with Staloch for a 20-10 doubles record and a third place finish at the ITA Championships in the fall. The pair were joined on the All-UAA team by junior Samantha Schultz (Okemos, Mich.), senior Mai Otsuka (Gifu, Japan/Kimball Union Academy), and doubles combo Alisa Liebowitz (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) and Peggy Stankevich (East Hampton, N.Y./Ross School), both freshmen.

The NCAA Division III Tennis Championships also include an individual title and doubles title. Announcements for those brackets will be released later today.