Seattle U was awarded the number one seed for the tournament earlier in the week and will receive a bye into the semifinals Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Central time. The Redhawks will face the winner of the first round match between fourth seed NJIT and fifth seed Chicago State. Depending on Saturday's results, Seattle U will either play in the championship match or the third-place match Sunday against second seed Texas-Pan American, third seed North Dakota, or sixth seed South Dakota.
"I felt we would be either the number two or number three seed. We had a very close match against North Dakota that could have gone either way. UTPA is a very good team that also could have been the top seed. It's good for us to be thought of as highly heading into this competitive tournament," head coach Mark Frisby said.
The Redhawks enter the tournament with a 9-14 overall record, including a six-match winning streak with victories over conference foes North Dakota and South Dakota as well as San Jose State and regional rival Portland State. Seattle U has not played a dual match since April 1, and Frisby has had to temper his players' willingness to practice for the Great West Tournament.
"They are so excited, and they are calling everyone about this experience. I have had to stop them for working out as much as they want to. I told them that they need to stay refreshed. We don't need to lift weights any more, we need to be rested and ready to play this weekend," said Frisby.
Frisby has put his experienced players at the top of the singles lineup, as senior Ariel Ohno (Kent, Wash.) will occupy the number one singles position and junior Katrina Schwab (Spokane, Wash.) will play in the number two singles spot. Four freshmen will fill singles spots three through six, as Gabriella Weissmann (Simi Valley, Calif.), Anna Lambert (Spokane, Wash.), Sarah Lucas (Las Vegas, Nev.), and Corinne Wurden (Poulsbo, Wash.) will play a major role in the success of the team at the tournament.
The doubles lineup will consist of Wurden and Schwab at number one doubles, Weissmann and Lucas at number two doubles, and Ohno and Lambert at number three doubles. Frisby has put faith in his freshman to win key matches throughout the season, and he will depend on the first-year players to help the team this weekend.
"These freshmen don't think like freshmen," Frisby said. "We recruited players who did not play as much tennis at the junior level as some of their counterparts, but they are fresher in terms of their approach and their love of the game. They want to be better tennis players."
In just three years, Frisby has built the women's tennis program into a competitive squad, boasting victories over Eastern Washington and Idaho State as well as the ones listed above. With two victories this weekend, the women's tennis team will make school history as the first team to win a Division I conference title since the start of the reclassification process.
"The girls want to win. I have not said too much about this tournament. I told them that we have a huge challenge ahead of us, but that I think we can win the whole thing, and I believe that," said Frisby.
Results and recaps will be posted on GoSeattleU.com as soon as they become available from the Great West Conference and Chicago State.