RELATED LINKS: ITA Division II Women's Preseason Poll
TEMPE, Ariz. – The University of West Alabama women's tennis team will start its quest of five straight Gulf South Conference (GSC) Tournament Championships with a national ranking of sixth in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II rankings, sponsored by Tennis Point.
UWA is coming off four straight GSC tournament championships and a first round appearance at the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2023.
Finishing with a 19-6 record a year ago, the Tigers went a perfect 10-0 in conference action, and the program has won 33 consecutive league matches. More impressively, they are 44-1 since the 2019 season.
"It is nice to see where the women's team is in the top-10 for national rankings, and the most important thing is where we finish," said head coach
Jeff Beaman.
"We brought some great players in and lost a lot of talent from last year. The players and coaches are excited to start competing this week if the weather cooperates."
The Tigers are the highest-ranked team in the GSC, joining Auburn Montgomery (20) and Mississippi College (24). West Florida is also receiving votes.
In non-conference action, Nova Southeastern (2), Columbus State (7), Cameron (9), North Georgia (11) are the ranked foes.
In late February, the Tigers will participate in the
ITA Indoor National Championships from the University of Nebraska at Kearney from Feb. 23-25. UWA is the only GSC team in the event. The Tigers will join the likes of Barry University, the reigning Division II national champions, and Nova Southeastern, the reigning finalist at the national tournament.
West Alabama will start the event with Flagler on Feb. 23.
The month of January will see the Tigers play a couple of exhibitions with South Alabama on Thursday, weather permitting, in Mobile. UWA will also make the trip to the Big Easy to face NAIA Dillard University.
The 2024 season will officially rev up on Wednesday, Feb. 7 when the Tigers head to Montgomery to take on Alabama State.
