The NCAA News - News and Features

April 28, 1997

Championships preview -- Division I

Familiar foes to square off again

Event: 1997 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships.

Overview: Florida and Stanford finished first and second, respectively, in 1996. The two teams should battle for bragging rights again at this year's event. Florida is the nation's No. 1-ranked team after winning its first 25 team matches, including a February 23 meeting against Stanford in the Rolex Indoor Championships team final. The Gators are led by Dawn Buth, Divya Merchant, Bonnie Bleecker and Stephanie Nickitas. Buth and Nickitas, defending doubles champions, combine to form the nation's No. 2-ranked doubles tandem behind Stanford's Ania Bleszynski and Julie Scott .... Stanford also showcases Katie Schlukebir and Sandra De Silva. Schlukebir, the 1997 Rolex Indoor Championships singles champion, is the nation's No. 2-ranked singles player .... UCLA and Duke, semifinalists in 1996, should again be in the hunt for the title. The Blue Devils are led by No. 1-ranked singles player Karin Miller, a freshman.

Field: Eight teams will play at each of six regional tournaments. The six regional winners will advance to the national championship, joining 10 teams selected in advance that will not compete in regionals. Individual championships brackets will include 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams. A maximum of 68 players in singles and doubles will be selected from institutions other than those competing in the team championship. A minimum of four singles players and two doubles teams will be selected from each region. No more than six singles players and three doubles teams will be selected from one institution.

Dates and sites: Regional tournaments will be May 9-11. The team finals will be May 15-18 at Stanford, followed by singles and doubles championships May 19-23.

Television coverage: The championships' team final will be broadcast tape-delayed by ESPN at 1 p.m. (Eastern time) May 28 and by ESPN2 at 5 a.m. (Eastern time) June 14.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1547 for dates and sites, 1548 for bracket/schedule, 5241 for qualifiers, 5242 through 5245 for team results, and 5246 through 5250 for individual results. Regional and championships results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championships results will be published in the May 19 (regional tournaments) and June 2 (finals) issues of The NCAA News.