April 9, 2008

ST. GEORGE, UT - The 2008 Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Women's Tennis Championship will begin its three-day run on Thursday in St. George, UT, to crown a league champion.

Dixie State College of Utah will serve as host of the team tournament that will conclude on Saturday.

The event will feature representatives from all seven PacWest schools - BYU-Hawaii, Chaminade, Dixie State, Grand Canyon, Hawai`i Hilo, Hawai`i Hilo and Notre Dame de Namur.

Three matches will run per day at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. MDT with pairings set based on team strength.

The tournament pairings will be announced late on Wednesday, but BYU-Hawaii is expected to be the number one seed and receive a first-round bye. The Seasiders are unbeaten, have won more than 80 matches in a row, and are ranked number one in the nation in Division II.

BYU-Hawaii also boasts the number one player in the nation in Elwen Li, and the number one doubles tandem in the country in Li and Maggie Deng. Deng is ranked fourth in the country as a singles player.

Becky Lu (12th) and Ramona Husaru (19th) are both ranked in the Top 20 in singles while as a doubles team they stand ninth in Division II. Jenny Chin is ranked 43rd in the country.

The Sea Warriors of HPU enter the tournament having won 15 of their first 20 matches this season. Hawai`i Pacific is ranked 17th in the ITA and has made nine appearances in the NCAA National Tournament.

Grand Canyon University also has a championship history having captured the NAIA national title in 1981 during its first season of eligibility. The Antelopes were 20-8 that year.

Tennis is the oldest women's sport in GCU history with its roots dating back to the 1950s.

This year Grand Canyon is led by Sheila Johnson, who at 60 years of age became the oldest collegiate player in NCAA history to win a women's tennis match.

In just its second season of competition, NDNU is led by Sally Olsson - an All-PacWest Honorable Mention in women's soccer, and Lauren Quach - an All-PacWest Second Team member in volleyball.

The tournament schedule will be as follows:

Thursday, April 10 - First Round #1 seed receives bye #2 Seed vs. #7 Seed #3 Seed vs. #6 Seed #4 Seed vs. #5 Seed

Friday, April 11 - Semifinal Round #1 seed vs. winner of 4/5 (Semifinal 1) #2/#7 winner vs. and #3/#6 winner (Semifinal 2) #2/#7 loser vs. #3/#6 loser (Consolation) *The loser of the #4/#5 match plays in the fifth-place match on Friday

Saturday, April 12 - Championship Round PacWest Championship - Semifinal Winners Third Place - Semifinal Losers Fifth Place - Consolation Winner vs. #4/#5 loser *Seventh Place - Team that lost one match on Thursday & the Consolation Match on Friday

(Courtesy of Tom Di Camillo, Assistant Commissioner, Media Relations)