SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women's tennis team is off to Malibu to take on USC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, May 6th at 10 a.m. at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on the campus of Pepperdine University.
The No. 65 ranked Aztecs (17-6) will be making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2013 and will face off against No. 19 USC (17-11) in the first round. The match will feature five nationally ranked singles players, including No. 65 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat of SDSU.
Thamchaiwat, who was selected as an automatic qualifier for the NCAA singles championship to be held May 23-28 in Champaign, Illinois, highlights the Aztec standout performers this season. The senior has put together a perfect dual record, going 13-0 in her 18 starts at the number one position this spring. She posted singles victories in San Diego State's wins against Wyoming in the quarterfinals and against UNLV in the finals en route to the team claiming the Mountain West Conference tournament last weekend. She has not lost a match in the past six months dating back to the fall tournament season. Tamara Arnold has also put together a solid spring for the Aztecs. The all-conference selection in both singles play and doubles play went 14-6 in singles play during the spring season and posted an 11-2 record at the No. 2 spot in singles play.
The Aztecs, who were the third seed in the Mountain West Conference tournament, completed a dominant run through the Mountain West Conference tournament on Saturday, defeating fourth-seeded UNLV, 4-1, to claim the program's first league tournament title since 2003. In three matches in the event, the Aztecs (17-6) outscored the opposition 12-2 and did not lose a singles point in any of the victories over Wyoming, Colorado State and UNLV (19-6).
The winner of the SDSU-USC clash will square off on Saturday, May 7th against the winner of No. 8 Pepperdine and Denver at 1 p.m. PT.
All NCAA Tournament matches will be broadcast via the TennisONE App.
NCAA First and Second Round Information
Pepperdine University | Malibu, Calif.
Friday (May 6)
10 a.m. — San Diego State (17-6) vs. USC (17-11)
1 p.m. — [8] Pepperdine (20-6) vs. Denver (14-8)
Saturday (May 7)
1 p.m. — Friday winning teams
-SDSU-
Aztecs Head to Malibu for NCAA Tournament First Round
