INDIANAPOLIS - For the second time in three years, the NC State women's tennis team was awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship, as announced Tuesday evening by the NCAA.
"I think the team's hard work has paid off," said head coach Hans Olsen. "For us, it's very exciting and we will appreciate the opportunity to play more and improve as a team."
NC State (14-9) will face Big East Champion Notre Dame (17-8) in the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Regional on Friday, May 10. With a victory, the Pack would face the winner of 10th-seeded Michigan and IPFW. The start times for the matches have not been announced.
"I think the team has learned to believe," Olsen said. "A lot of these players were on the team last year and it's almost like a reward for how hard they've worked. I think this tournament will give them another opportunity to show off that hard work."
NC State last received a bid to the tournament in 2011, and will make its sixth overall appearance in program history.
In history, the two programs have never faced one another, but the first-round matchup between the Wolfpack and Fighting Irish will be a preview of what's to come when Notre Dame officially joins the Atlantic Coast Conference next fall.
The two sides share common opponents this season in Duke, Georgia Tech and South Florida.
Overall, eight ACC teams were selected to the 64-team field - the second-most of any conference in the nation behind only the Southeastern Conference (SEC) which received nine total bids.
