UWA Women Climb to No. 4 in National Rankings

TEMPE, Ariz. – The West Alabama women's tennis team picked up some good news on the eve of its first-ever NCAA South Region appearance when the new Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II rankings were released Friday and the Tigers climbed a spot to No. 4 in the nation.

West Alabama now plays in its first NCAA Regional sporting the highest team ranking in the history of the program. UWA's opponent on Saturday is No. 7 West Florida, who the Tigers have played and beaten twice this season, both by 4-3 scores.

UWA will play the Lady Argonauts Saturday at the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex, which serves as UWF's home court and was the site of the first meeting this year between the two teams back on April 5. West Alabama also defeated West Florida in the Gulf South Conference Championship Tournament finals April 24 in Montgomery.

West Alabama junior Haina Franco is No. 37 in the new Division II singles rankings, while Sarah Manseri is 44^th. Christopher Bulus dropped a spot to No. 4 in the nation in men's singles.

"The women have had a great year and seeing them move up in the team rankings, along with having Sarah and Haina in the singles rankings, is nice recognition," UWA head coach Jeff Beaman said. "However, our focus right now is on beating West Florida tomorrow.

"In a normal year we would be hosting a regional at home, but this is not a normal year and we are geared up to play a great UWF team with all of their fans at their place," Beaman said. "On the men's side, Chris has developed into one of the dominant players this year and his ranking reflects his many big wins."

First serve for Saturday's match between UWA and UWF is set for 2 p.m. The region finals match is set for noon Sunday. The NCAA Division II Tennis National Championships are set for May 18-22 in Surprise, Arizona.

For additional information, as well as links to live video and scoring check out the regional webpage.

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Players Mentioned

Haina Franco: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Sarah Manseri: 5' 7"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Haina Franco
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Sarah Manseri
: 5' 7"; Senior