Hawks meet Midwestern State in NCAA Tournament

Rockhurst Women's Tennis will be making its first appearance in the final site at the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship in Altamonte Springs, Florida. The Hawks will face Midwestern State in the first round at Sanlando Park on Wednesday at 11 a.m. CT.

The Hawks (18-5) are the No. 14 seed in a field of 16 teams competing in the single-elimination tournament. Rockhurst posted nail-biting wins over Findlay and Indianapolis in the Midwest Regional in Allendale, Michigan last week to earn a trip to Florida.

Midwestern State (21-3) is the No. 3 seed and is coming off a 4-2 victory over Lubbock Christian in the South Central Regional. Earlier this season, the Mustangs posted a 6-1 win over Rockhurst on Feb. 7 in North Kansas City, Missouri.

Rockhurst comes into the match riding a 12-match winning streak after coming from behind to defeat Indianapolis 4-3 last week.

Sophomore Ella Coleman leads the Hawks. She is ranked No. 23 in the ITA Collegiate Singles Rankings and is 17-4 at No. 1 singles this season after a three-set win over 37th-ranked Tyffaine Paris of Indianapolis in Michigan.

Junior Sofia Valdespino and sophomore Zuzanna Szmyd both sport 13-8 records at No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Junior Marina Magai, senior Dani Lentisco and senior Maria Baez have combined for a 36-17 record in singles play.

Midwestern State is 4-1 all-time against Rockhurst and has won the last four encounters. This will be the first postseason meeting between the two schools.

The winner between Rockhurst and Midwestern State will advance to the quarterfinals to face No. 6-seed Dallas Baptist or No. 11-seed Wayne State (Michigan) on Thursday.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Lentisco: 5' 7"; Senior

Zuzanna Szmyd: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Sofia Valdespino: 5' 6"; Junior

Maria Baez: 5' 5"; Senior

Ella Coleman: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Marina Magai: 5' 7"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Dani Lentisco
: 5' 7"; Senior

Zuzanna Szmyd
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Sofia Valdespino
: 5' 6"; Junior

Maria Baez
: 5' 5"; Senior

Ella Coleman
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Marina Magai
: 5' 7"; Junior