The Horizon League Champion Chicago State women's tennis team earned the conference's automatic bid into the 2024 NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament and was selected to play in the Ann Arbor Regional. The Cougars will face No. 3 Michigan on Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m. CT. The four-team regional includes Notre Dame and Xavier who will play at 10 a.m. CT. Saturday with the winners of each match squaring off Sunday, May 5 at 12:00 p.m. CT.
"Excited isn't even the word I can use to describe the feeling of this team right now," head coach
Jack Barton said. "This is a program changer for the department and the university. We are one of the biggest stories in NCAA tennis right now and it's a great opportunity to tell our story."
The Cougars, who began the season with a 3-9 record, have won seven matches in a row and 13 of their last 14 during this championship run and have posted the second most wins in a season, 16, in the Division I era. The Wolverines are the Big Ten champions, went 11-0 in conference play, have won 18 straight and posted a 15-1 record at home.
"The matches we lost at the beginning of the season I believe set us up to finish strong," Barton said. "I think losing some matches with the fight and determination to achieve victory, built character for our players. We became stronger and more close knit when it was a recipe for just giving up. I think we learned a lot about ourselves during that time so when adversity hit during our winning streak, we knew how to handle it."
The other two teams in the Ann Arbor bracket are Notre Dame (17-9) and Xavier (19-5). The Irish received an at-large bid from the ACC while Xavier defeated DePaul in the Big East Conference final to qualify for the postseason.
Ann Arbor Regional Schedule
NCAA First and Second Rounds
(Varsity Tennis Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Saturday, May 4
Notre Dame vs. Xavier, 10 a.m. CT
Michigan vs. Chicago State, 1 p.m. CT
Sunday, May 5
Notre Dame/Xavier winner vs. Michigan/Chicago State winner, 12 p.m. CT
About Chicago State Athletics
Chicago State University sponsors 16 Division I intercollegiate athletic teams and competes in the Northeast Conference (effective July 2024) with the exception of men's and women's tennis who will compete in the Horizon League during the 2024-25 season. CSU's athletic program includes over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, triathlon and volleyball.
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