Stephenson and Bentley Selected to NCAA Tournament
5/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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University of Alabama sophomores Robin Stephenson and Ashley Bentley were selected to the NCAA Individual Tennis Tournaments in Athens, Ga. at both singles and doubles play. The news came just one day after the team received an NCAA Tournament bid for the fourth straight season.
Stephenson, ranked 28th in the country, was selected at-large to the singles tournament from the South Region. Bentley, No. 69, was selected as an alternate. The pair was chosen at-large to the doubles tournament as well. It is the first time since 1995 and only the second time in school history that a singles and doubles player from Alabama has participated in the same year. The round of 16 is as far as any Tide player has ever made it in singles and no doubles team in school history has won in the first round.
“Robin and Ashley have worked extremely hard to enjoy this prestigious invitation to the tournament,” said Alabama Head Coach Jenny Mainz. “They have done an unbelievable job of leading this team and we (the team and coaches) are very proud of their accomplishments. They want to finish the season with authority.”
This is the fifth doubles selection for Alabama in the NCAA Tournament and the eighth and ninth selections chosen to singles competition.
The tournament draw will be held after the team championships on May 23. Singles play begins on May 24 and doubles competition starts the following day with both running through May 29.
The singles tournament is made up of 64 individuals with the top 16 being seeded. The 16 seeded participants and the qualifiers making it to the round of 16 are automatically chosen as All-Americans. The doubles field is made up of 32 teams with the top eight being seeded. All-Americans are chosen by the top eight seeds or participants making it to the quarterfinals.
