The match will take place on Friday, May 10 at 2 p.m. PT at the Taube Family Tennis Center on campus. Rice and Pepperdine are the other two teams competing in Palo Alto, Calif., and will play at 11 a.m. that day. Winners meet on Saturday, May 11 at 1 p.m. PT.

The RedHawks (13-12, 7-1 MAC) are making their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament with both previous trips (2009 and 2010) coming at Northwestern.

Nimisha Mohan, a first-team All-MAC selection, holds a 23-11 overall record, including 15-9 in dual matches. She played No. 1 the second half of the season, posting a 7-5 mark at that position. She won the deciding match at the MAC Championship, winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 for the 4-3 decision. Her efforts won her all-tournament and Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.

Alix Thurman plays No. 2 for the RedHawks, holding a 22-12 overall record, including 11-4 at her current spot. She was a second-team All-MAC selection, posting a 5-3 mark in league play. Christiana Raymond, the No. 3 player, was undefeated in league play and has now won 10 straight singles matches. She earned all-tournament honors after winning both singles and one doubles match in Muncie.

The rest of the lineup features Christine Guerrazzi at No. 4, Ana Rajkovic at No. 5 and Ramona Costea in the six spot.

The doubles lineup features Rajkovic and Guerrazzi at No. 1, Thurman and Mohan at No. 2 and Raymond and Costea taking the three spot.

Stanford (16-4, 8-2 Pac-12) will be making its 32nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cardinal won five of their last six matches overall while finishing tied for third place in the Pac-12.

The Cardinal is coming off a 4-3 loss to California back on April 19 in its most recent matchup, snapping a string of eight consecutive wins over the Golden Bears that also included a 6-1 home victory on March 2.

All seats are general admission. Single-day tickets are $7 (adult) and $5 (student/youth/senior). Tickets are available starting on Monday, May 6, either in person, by calling 1-800-STANFORD or visiting http://www.gostanford.com. Phone orders will be available at will call.

Miami (11-12 overall) will look for its first tournament championship since 2010 next weekend when it takes the court in Muncie, Ind. The RedHawks open play Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against the winner of a quarterfinal match between No. 4 seed and host Ball State and fifth-seeded Western Michigan.

The RedHawks took the doubles point by winning two of three matches. Alix Thurman and Nimisha Mohan starting things with an 8-5 win at No. 2. After the Huskies captured the top doubles flight, Christiana Raymond and Ramona Costea put Miami up 1-0 with an 8-5 victory at No. 3.

Christine Guerrazzi took the No. 4 match 6-1, 6-3 for a 2-0 lead, then Raymond capped an undefeated MAC season with a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 3.

NIU (14-10, 0-8) cut into the lead with a victory at No. 1, but Costea sealed the championship-clinching victory with a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 6.

The team split the final two matches with Ana Rajkovic winning at No. 5, 6-4, 7-5, before NIU took the No. 2 tie.

Miami had its 33-match regular-season conference winning streak snapped at the start of the year, but won seven straight after that.

“We’re excited to return to the WNIT,” said head coach Maria Fantanarosa. “The field is very competitive and will give us an opportunity to continue to compete. This team has battled through adversity to make tremendous progress this year. Our hard work throughout this season has been rewarded by this invitation.”

Miami finished the regular season 19-12 and 10-6 in the Mid-American Conference. The RedHawks are led by seniors Courtney Osborn and Kirsten Olowinski. Osborn, a First-Team All-MAC selection for the second straight season, has averaged a career-high 19.1 points per game in 2013. She has become Miami’s all-time leading scorer and is sixth in MAC history with 2,147 points. Olowinski, a Second-Team All-MAC selection, averages a double-double of 12.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. She has become Miami’s all-time leading rebounder and is second in MAC history with 1,140 rebounds.

Illinois is 16-13 overall and finished 9-7 in the Big Ten Conference. A strong offensive team, the Illini average 70.0 points per game. They are led by a pair of Second-Team All-Big Ten selections in senior forward Karisma Penn and sophomore guard Adrienne Godbold. Penn averages 19.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Godbold averages 17.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest.

The time of the game will be announced on Tuesday by the WNIT officials. The winner of the contest between the RedHawks and the Illini will face the winner of a game between Missouri and Eastern Illinois in the second round at a date and site to be announced.

Miami was one of a record five MAC teams to receive a berth in the WNIT, joining Toledo, Ball State, Bowling Green and Akron.

What made Miami’s victory even more unique is that the RedHawks climbed to the top of the standings without placing first in any of the 20 individual or relay team events. That has never happened before in the history of MAC women’s swimming and diving.

“That definitely shows our depth,” said head coach Dave Jennings. “Depth was the determining factor. It’s unfortunate that none of our young ladies won an individual championship, but our goal was always to win the team title and that’s exactly what we did.

Miami’s 621 team points out-distanced runner-up Ohio (505) by 116 points. Bowling Green was third (467), Eastern Michigan was fourth (450), host Buffalo was fifth (421), Toledo placed sixth (394), Ball State was seventh (345), and Akron finished eighth (302).

Senior Bekka Westrick earned first-team All-MAC honors, while senior Leah Thornton, senior Maegan O’Connor, sophomore Courtney Collett, freshman Aubrey Kluth and junior Nicole Wagner were chosen as second-team All-MAC selections.

In the 1650 freestyle, Miami had four who earned points. Collett placed sixth (16:56.20), sophomore Stephanie Pearce finished eighth (17:01.21), Kluth touched 10th (17:08.29) and senior Molly Tyler (17:16.68) placed 14th.  After that event, Miami maintained its 99-point lead over Ohio, 470-371.

In event 16, the 200 backstroke, Thornton (2:01.23)and freshman Emma Szczupakiewicz (2:02.73) placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in the finals. Sophomore Katie Bootsma (season-best 2:00.64) finished 10th and junior Brianna Fujan (season-best 2:01.12) wound up in 12th place.

In the 100 freestyle finals, Westrick finished third with a time of 50.00 and senior Maddie Kete (50.92) placed eighth. Cynthia Donovan earned her team three additional points with a 14th-place finish (51.41). After 17 events, Miami had increased its lead to 110 points over Ohio, 535 to 425.

Wagner was the RedHawks’ only finalist in the 200 breaststroke event, winning 11 points for her team with a time of 2:18.40. Sophomore Gabbie Pettinichi (season-best 2:18.54) and senior Stacia Schacter (2:18.83) were 12th and 14th, respectively.

O’Connor placed eighth in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall in a time of 2:01.46. Szczupakiewicz finished 13th overall (2:03.91). Following that event, Miami’s lead had shrunk to a still comfortable 80 points over Bowling Green, 569 to 489.

Junior Nikki Craft earned a fourth-place finish on the three-meter board with a score of 331.90, giving her team 15 more points. Senior Corey Bangs placed 14th overall with a score of 273.75.

In the final event of the evening, Miami’s 400 freestyle relay team of Westrick, Thornton, Donovan and Kete placed second in a time of 3:22.10. Buffalo won the event.

While the season ends for the majority of the RedHawk swimmers and divers, there will likely be some individuals that advance on to NCAA meet competition.

In addition to the MAC championship, Miami finished the dual meet season with a record of 10-1 and had a perfect 6-0 mark against conference competition.

The team is expected to arrive in Oxford Sunday at approximately 4 p.m. in the Rec Center (Campus Avenue) parking lot.

Osborn’s jumper from the top of the key at the 16:48 mark of the second half put Miami ahead to stay, 32-30, and broke the record. The mark had previously been held by Amanda Jackson (2003-08) at 1,979 points. Osborn finished with a team-high 19 points on the day and now has 1,995 career points.

A three-pointer from Haley Robertson and a layup by Kirsten Olowinski helped the RedHawks to an early 7-4 lead. Buffalo followed with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 13-7 advantage with 15:13 to go in the first half.

A jumper by Olowinski sparked the Miami response. Over the next five minutes the ‘Hawks would keep the Bulls off the board while they went on a 9-0 run. The run was completed by a three-pointer from Osborn that tied Jackson and gave Miami a 19-13 lead.

The Bulls closed to within 22-18 at the 4:59 mark, but back-to-back buckets from Hannah Robertson and Erica Almady pushed the advantage back to eight. Buffalo would close the half on a 5-2 run, but Miami took a 28-23 lead into the break.

The RedHawks shot 42.9 percent (9-for-21) in the first half, while holding the Bulls to 27.6 percent (8-for-29) shooting. Haley Robertson led Miami with eight points in the period.

Buffalo opened the second half on a 7-2 run to tie the score at 30.The historic jumper from Osborn broke the tie. She would record two more layups as Miami pushed the advantage to four at 40-36. A three-pointer from Buffalo would cut the lead to one at 40-39 with 11:47 remaining in the game.

Haley Robertson would immediately answer with a three-pointer to keep the ‘Hawks in front. After a pair of Bull free throws, an Osborn three-pointer started a 9-0 run that made it 52-41 at the 7:37 mark. Buffalo would get as close as five at 54-49, but back-to-back jumpers from Hannah and Haley Robertson would put it away. Osborn drained six straight free throws down the stretch to finish off the 69-56 win.

In addition to Osborn’s 19 points, Haley Robertson finished with 15, while Olowinski chipped in 14. Miami shot 44 percent (22-for-50) for the game, including 35.3 percent (6-for-17) from behind the arc. The RedHawks outrebounded Buffalo, 34-28.

Miami returns to action on Saturday at 2 p.m. when it hosts Bowling Green for a key MAC showdown. That game is the RedHawks “Think Pink” contest, where they will hold a pledge drive based on the amount of rebounds they can bring in against the Falcons. Money raised will go to support people with breast cancer.

Kodiak (Naperville, Ill.) is the first Miami player since Danielle Berkemeier in 2002 to receive All-American plaudits as Berkemeier, now in Miami’s Athletic Hall of Fame, was also named to the third team. Andrea Cunningham, also in Miami’s Hall of Fame, is the other RedHawk to pick up All-America honors, garnering first-team distinction in 2000.

Kodiak was named Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year this year, just the fifth RedHawk to do so, while leading Miami to both MAC Regular-Season and Tournament Championships and a school-record 20 wins. The team captain also helped the ‘Hawks knock off No. 20 Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, handing out an assist, as Miami advanced to the second round for just the third time in school history.

Kodiak started all 24 games in 2012 and finished with a team-high 36 points, recording both 12 goals and 12 assists. The 12 assists shattered the school’s single-season record, led the MAC and tied for sixth nationally. Her 36 points and 1.50 points per game were both second in the MAC with the 36 points ranking 21st nationally. Kodiak’s 12 goals also ranked second in the conference, three of which were game-winners.

Kodiak earned First-Team All-MAC honors for the second straight year and landed on the All-MAC Tournament Team for the second time in her career. She tallied a point in 15 of 24 games this season and recorded four multi-goal matches. She also totaled five points on two goals and an assist three times throughout the year, including in the MAC Tournament semifinals.

Kodiak was the only player from the Mid-American Conference named an NSCAA All-American. She finished her career with 90 points in 84 career games, starting 71, while not playing in just one match in her four-year career. She started every single game her final three years as a RedHawk . Kodiak scored 32 career goals and dished out 26 assists, which ranks second in school history, while her 90 points rank in the top five at Miami.

A total of 50 girls were named to three All-America teams by the NSCAA. The complete All-America teams can be found here

The RedHawks (20-2-1) will now face third-seeded and No. 15 Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Charlottesville, Va. at 4 p.m. Tennessee finishes the season with a record of 14-5-3. Miami, which set the school record for wins Sunday with its 20th of the season, has now won its NCAA first-round game in each of its last three trips to the NCAA Tournament, also winning first-round matches in 2001 and 2002, with the 2002 squad holding the previous wins record of 19.

“When we went down a goal (in the second half) we made an adjustment in our formation because we were chasing the game. The question during the interval between regulation and overtime was do we stick with it and we decided to,” head coach Bobby Kramig said. “There was a certain degree of risk associated with it because we pulled a defender out of the game and to do that when you’re under as much pressure as we were during the game, that is not something to be taken lightly. But we had to do something about the way they were coming out of the back. It was just eating us up all day long, but we’re a MAC school, we’re Miami playing down here at an SEC school in Tennessee, so what do you have to lose. You might as well go for it, so we did.”

The Lady Vols controlled play early, keeping the ball in their attacking end for much of the first 15 minutes. Tennessee broke through in the 26th minute when Alexis Owens cleaned up a rebound to put UT ahead, 1-0. Caroline Brown fired the initial shot that redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Allison Norenberg (Palatine, Ill.) saved, but the rebound popped right to Owens in the middle of the box.

The RedHawks were not deterred however, and responded just over a minute later. Miami earned back-to-back corner kicks after the UT goal and capitalized on the second one. Junior Katy Dolesh (Chardon, Ohio) soared over a Lady Vol defender and headed home a corner off the foot of senior Jess Kodiak (Naperville, Ill.) past Tennessee keeper Julie Eckel to level the game at 1-1 in the 27th minute.

Miami generated more offense as the opening half went on but the Lady Vols had the best chance to break the deadlock when Owens fired a low line drive from the left side of the box in the 34th minute, however Norenberg sprawled out to make the save. The teams went into the break even at 1-1 with UT holding a 7-5 edge in shots, though the ‘Hawks conceded just one corner kick while earning their two.

Just over five minutes into the second half, UT had another scoring chance with the ball loose in the box but Norenberg made a save and Miami blocked a shot before clearing it out of danger. Tennessee continued to keep the pressure on the ‘Hawks, taking the first six shots of the second half and converting on the sixth one when Katie Lenz played a soft through ball into the box where Brown completed her long run and finished the shot into the right corner of the net for a 2-1 Lady Vol lead.

The RedHawks then awoke and started to string some passes together to work the ball up the field after bringing in multiple offensive substitutions. Dinges (Smithton, Ill.) took Miami’s first shot of the second stanza in the 85th minute but it sailed wide. With regulation time winding down and the RedHawks needing the equalizer, Dinges stepped up and lofted a bouncing half-volley from just outside the 18-yard box over Eckel’s head and just under the crossbar to knot the match at 2-2 with only nine ticks on the clock.

“I think that we just wanted to keep fighting and didn’t want to run out of time. As soon as the goal went in, we took all the momentum and went forward with it,” Dinges said. “We had it all going into overtime and we knew we had the greatest chance to score right away.”

In overtime, the Lady Vols had a chance to end the game quickly, earning two corner kicks in the first three minutes of the extra session and hit the crossbar, but Miami was able to clear. The RedHawks then countered the other way and Dinges found Zakrzewski (London, Ont.) on the left flank, where she cut toward goal and fired a low, line drive into the right corner of the goal just 4:43 into overtime, setting off a dogpile of RedHawks on the field.

“This team has been built on faith and confidence in each other all year long. You live and die with that and that’s what a team’s supposed to be,” Kramig said. “They never panicked, they never quit and that’s the second time this year Dinges has done that (score in the closing seconds). It was a one-goal game the whole time so there was no reason to stop competing.”

The victory extended Miami’s school-record unbeaten streak to 16 games while the ‘Hawks remained perfect on the road this year at 10-0-0. It was also Miami’s first ever win against an SEC foe in four tries.

The Lady Vols finished with a 14-10 edge in shots and a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks, but Norenberg tallied four saves, two in each half, to earn the win, compared to just one stop for Eckel.

The winner of the Miami-Duke second-round match will face the winner of the Virginia vs. Rutgers contest, which follows the RedHawks and Blue Devils at 7 p.m. Friday. The third-round match is set for Sunday at 4 p.m. and will also be hosted by the Cavaliers regardless of the second-round winners.

MURedHawks article

Dayton Daily News Article

A victory in round one would earn the RedHawks a second round matchup on Saturday against either pod host Purdue or Louisville.  Good luck to the RedHawks as they begin their NCAA tournament experience.

In singles play, Miami has been led by freshman Anastasia Dracheva (11-3 in the number one slot), sophomore Brintney Larson (13-6, mostly from the number two slot), freshman Megan Martzolf (10-4), senior Kelly Douple (14-5, including 8-0 in the MAC), and senior Leda Pesatova (12-6).  Overall, Miami is 79-35 in singles play, including 38-10 (.792) in the MAC.  Many different players and combinations led Miami to a 34-23 doubles record, but the standout combination was Leda Pesatova and Sydnee Bridger, who ended the season with a record of 11-4, including 6-2 in the MAC.

The MAC tournament begins Friday as Miami plays seventh seeded Ball State (8-10, 1-6) at 2pm.  If Miami wins, they would play either #3 Toledo or #6 Buffalo at 2pm on Saturday.  The tournament finals will be held on Sunday at noon with top seeded Western Michigan (14-7, 7-0) looming on the other side of the bracket.

Congratulations to the Miami tennis team on its outstanding season and good luck at the MAC tournament!

On Sunday, women's basketball takes center stage as the RedHawks play in their first ever NCAA tournament game, matching up against Louisville at 2:30p on ESPN.  The RedHawks earned a spot in the tournament with its MAC tournament championship last weekend in Cleveland, culminating in a 67-56 victory versus OU.  Miami, seeded #13 in the tournament, is currently 23-10 and has won 12 of their last 13 games.  Louisville, seeded #4, is 24-9 and lost to Connecticut in the Big East championship game.  A Miami victory would advance them to the second round against either Kansas State or Chattanooga on Tuesday.

Good luck to both the ice hockey team on its quest for a CCHA tournament title and the women's basketball team on its quest to win its first ever NCAA tournament game.