May 2, 2017
NCAA Bracket
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nine days after clinching Vanderbilt’s first Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament championship, the women’s tennis team is back in tournament play making its 23rd overall appearance in the NCAA women’s tennis tournament.
“We’re really excited to host,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald who earned his 226th Commodore victory for the SEC tournament crown. “We’re about to be out of finals and have some more time to fine-tune and focus on improvement. I love this team. We thought we might get a higher seed, but it’s a draw and you take it for what it is, but what an exciting opportunity to complete for a National Championship.”
The fourth overall seeded Commodores will host Washington (2), Clemson (3), and SIU Edwardsville (4) in the first and second rounds. This is the fourth-consecutive season that the Commodores will host first and second rounds, and second-straight year that SIUE and Clemson will make their way to West End. VU will first take on SIUE at 4 pm on the 12th. The Nashville Regional Champion will advance to the Round of 16, which takes place in Athens, Ga. from May 19-23.
The last time the Commodores were the fourth seed was 2015. Vanderbilt navigated its way through the entire tournament that season, walking away from Waco, Texas with the NCAA Championship trophy.
“We’re excited to be hosting NCAAs for the fourth-straight year,” said senior Sydney Campbell. “That’s a huge accomplishment and we look forward to hosting two teams who were here last year (Clemson, SIUE). We’re heading into NCAAs with a lot of momentum on our side. It will be a busy day with graduation before our match, but we look forward to having more opportunities to play in front of friends and family.”
VU enters the NCAA tournament play following a semifinal finish in 2016 and the program’s first NCAA title in 2015. Last season the black and gold knocked off SIUE, Rice, Auburn and Virginia before falling 4-2 to the Stanford Cardinal. The Cardinal went on to claim the 2016 NCAA crown.
The reminder of the Commodores’ pod is comprised of 13th-seeded California, LSU, Tulsa and San Jose State. The winner of the two regionals will square off on May 19.
For updates on the tournament and a behind the scenes look at the program, follow @VandyWTennis on Twitter.
