April 17, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . For the first time in the history of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC), the league will conduct a separate four-team tournament to determine the Conference's automatic qualifier for the 2008 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships. This season is just the second in which the NCAA has granted Division III conferences automatic qualification in tennis.

The automatic qualifier tournament will take place April 19 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and will feature the top four teams from the 2007 IIAC Women’s Tennis Championship, which was held in October and won by host Coe College. Joining Coe are Luther, Central, and Wartburg.

As the 2007 IIAC Champion, Coe (20-3) will be the No. 1 seed and will face No. 4 Wartburg (12-11) in a 10 a.m. semifinal at Clark Racquet Center on the Coe College campus, while No. 2-seed Luther (26-6) will meet No. 3 seed Central (11-9) in another 10 a.m. semifinal at Noelridge Park. The winners will play for the tournament championship at approximately 2 p.m. at Clark Racquet Center.

The tournament champion receives the IIAC's guaranteed berth into the 47-team NCAA Division III Championship field. Team selections will be announced April 28 with regional play occurring May 2-4. Each of the eight regional champion teams, along with 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams selected April 29, will advance to the finals of the 2008 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships to be held May 13-18 on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. The team championship will be conducted May 13-15 with championship play in singles and doubles being held May 16-18.

IIAC Women's Tennis
NCAA Automatic Qualifer Tournament
Saturday, April 19, 2008

Semifinals
#1 Coe vs. #4 Wartburg, 10 a.m. at Clark Racquet Center, Coe College
#2 Luther vs. #3 Central, 10 a.m. at Noelridge Park

Championship
Semifinal winners, approx. 2 p.m. at Clark Racquet Center

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