May 5, 2009

BEVERLY, Mass. - The Endicott College women's team has drawn Wellesley College in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament matchup and will face the Blue Pride on Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. in Williamstown, Mass. in the First Round of the tournament. The Gulls earned the automatic qualifier from The Commonwealth Coast Conference back in the fall when the Gulls defeated Colby-Sawyer College, 5-2, for its first TCCC Championship.

Endicott returns a squad that went 16-1 in the fall including a 9-1 record in the TCCC. Endicott placed six players on the All-TCCC teams including First-Team selections by Kate Cioffi (Essex, Vt.) in singles while Nicole Breting (Johnston, R.I.) and Lori Wardner (Wrentham, Mass.) earned First-Team honors in doubles play. Breting was also named to the All-TCCC Second-Team in singles while Wardner earned Honorable Mention honors.

The Gulls played in several tune-up matches in preparation of playing in their first NCAA Tournament. The Gulls defeated Salem State College on April 14th, 8-1 and then defeated Gordon College by a matching score on April 18th. In their final matchup, the Gulls dropped a 6-3 decision to Simmons College on April 25th to wrap up with a 2-1 record in their spring matches.

Wellesley went 17-5 this season and 7-0 in the NEWMAC en route to the Conference Championship. The Blue Pride were led by Marie Watanabe (Houston, Texas) who went 11-5 at number one singles while pairing with Grace Cheng (Columbia, Md.) to go 12-2 in doubles play. Watanabe earned the NEWMAC Rookie of the Year in her first collegiate season while also grabbing First-Team honors.

Endicott and Wellesley faceoff on Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. The winner will move on to face Middlebury College (10-9) in the next round on Saturday morning, also at 8:00 a.m.

The full women's tennis NCAA Tournament bracket can be seen by clicking here.