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CHENEY, Wash.-- The Eastern Washington University women's tennis team heads out to the 2019 Big Sky Women's Tennis Conference Championship this Thursday (April 25) where they will play No. 5 Southern Utah. The Eagles earned the No. 4 seed after a regular season conference record of 8-2 in Big Sky play. This is Eastern's second consecutive year in which they have qualified for the BSC Championship and the first time the team has ever gone up against Southern Utah in the championships.
The championship is being hosted at the Phoenix Tennis Center by the University of Montana in Phoenix, Ariz., from April 25-27. EWU will play in the quarterfinals against SUU and the match is set to begin at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Quarterfinals will begin on Thursday, with semifinals following on Friday and the championship taking place Saturday. The top six teams in the conference standings earn bids to the tournament. The winner of the championship will receive the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We have been working hard all season for the opportunity to compete in Phoenix for the Big Sky Championship and we have finally reached that moment," said head coach
Dustin Hinson. "It's an exciting time for our athletes. This is the culmination of all of the work we've been putting in and now it's time to leave it all on the court and battle to be the best. We are very proud of what we've accomplished during the regular season to get to the tournament. Finishing in a tie for second place after the regular season is certainly a step up from what we've done in the past. But we know that we have so much more to play for this weekend and it only makes us want to achieve more."
"I see the inner belief and confidence in every member of the team and we want to use that this weekend to fuel our level of play. We know that all six teams traveling to Phoenix have the ability to win the title, so ultimately it comes down to heart and grit and "finding a way" in the moment to come out on top."
The Eagles return to competition after their final regular season match against Northern Arizona (April 21), where they lost 6-1. EWU finished their regular season with an overall record of 12-9 and 8-2 in Big Sky play.
Eastern will take on Southern Utah in the quarterfinals. Last time the Eagles played the Thunderbirds (April 19), EWU beat them 4-3 in Utah. The Thunderbirds were seeded No. 5 after they finished the regular season with an overall record of 12-10 and 5-5 in Big Sky play. SUU is led by head coach Monroe Walker, who is in his first season as head coach.
Last year, the Eagles qualified for the BSC tournament as the No. 3 seed where they played No. 6 Weber State in the quarterfinals but unfortunately lost 4-3.
Should the Eagles beat SUU in the quarterfinals, the team will then advance to the semifinals on Friday and face either No. 1 Northern Arizona or No. 2 Idaho. Either match will begin at 11 a.m. PT.
