Bencheikh, Sedlackova Make NCAA Singles Championship Debut Monday

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. –– Alabama women's tennis will have two athletes compete at the NCAA Singles Championships at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Ill., May 23-28, as Loudmilla Bencheikh and Petra Sedlackova open competition Monday. Bencheikh will face NC State's Abigail Rencheli at 1:30 p.m. CT, while Sedlackova takes on Stanford's Alexandra Yepifanova at 4:30 p.m.

Bencheikh was added to the field of 64 Saturday as the third alternate while Sedlackova joined the field on Sunday as the fifth alternate.

How to Follow

Video for the tournament will be provided by TennisOne. A link to download the app and to live scoring will be available at RollTide.com. Updates will be provided on the team's Twitter account, @AlabamaWTN

A Look at the Tournament

Alabama will have two athletes compete at the NCAA Singles Championships, which runs May 23-28
The tournament will be held at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Ill.
The singles championships will feature 64 athletes competing in a single elimination bracket with a champion will be crowned on May 28

Loudmilla Bencheikh

Bencheikh currently ranks 66^thaccording to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's latest rankings and has held a national ranking in all but one bi-weekly poll since Dec. 8
Bencheikh was named a First Team All-SEC honoree for her performance during the season, becoming the 13^th UA player to earn first-team honors
She competed at the top of the lineup for the Tide, recording 15 wins throughout the year, second most on the team, with 11 wins coming in dual matches
Five of those wins would be over a ranked opponent
In addition to her singles performance, she helped lead Alabama in doubles victories earning a spot at the ITA Fall National Championships after winning the Southern Regional title

Petra Sedlackova

Sedlackova enters the tournament ranked 68^th in the latest ITA poll
She paced the team in singles wins with 23 on the year, putting together a 16-3 record in dual matches
As a freshman, she played at the No. 3 singles position at the beginning of the season, where she won 12 of her first 14 collegiate matches, before moving up the ladder to the No. 2 spot
She advanced semifinals to the ITA Southern Regional Championships in the fall in singles
Sedlackova also helped clinched Alabama's first win over a top-10 program since 2015 as the team downed No. 10 Georgia 4-3
She was named a Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman selection

Alabama at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships

Alabama will send two athletes to the NCAA Singles Championships for the first time since Andie Daniell and Erin Routliffe advanced to the tournament in 2016
Including the appearance by Bencheikh and Sedlackova, UA has sent 13^th players to the women's NCAA singles draw with Alabama tallying a total of 24 berths at the event
Daniell was the last player to earn a spot in the singles draw, making her second appearance in the tournament in 2019
Sedlackova and Bencheikh are also the 16^th and 17^th UA athletes to make the NCAA singles event under head coach Jenny Mainz's leadership

The Opening Round

A sophomore with the Wolfpack, Abigail Rencheli has recorded a team-leading 27 wins during the season, including an 18-7 run from the No. 2 singles spot
Rencheli currently ranks 48^th in singles
Alexandra Yepifanova is a freshman with the Cardinal
She holds a team-leading 33 singles wins and a 20-4 record at the No. 2 spot
Yepifanova ranks 23^rd in the latest ITA rankings

Get the latest information on the team by following AlabamaWTN on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.

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