April 18, 2012

2012 Patriot League Women's Tennis Tournament Central

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The seeding has been set for the 2012 Patriot League Women’s Tennis Tournament, which starts Friday and concludes Sunday at the Ulrich Varsity Courts on the Goodman Campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

After going through the Patriot League’s tiebreaking procedures, Navy, which owns an overall record of 19-2 and a 4-0 mark in the Patriot League, is the No. 1 seed. Army, at 19-6 overall and 5-0 against League teams, earned the second seed. The Black Knights are the seven-time defending tournament champions and have claimed the trophy 11 out of the last 13 years.

Army and Navy did not play during the regular season. The League’s tiebreaker procedure then goes to records against common League opponents, with both academies at 4-0 against Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette and Lehigh. With the teams still in a tie, a comparison of records was made against common non-League opponents, of which there was just one – Quinnipiac. Army and Navy both picked up a win over the Bobcats.

In the event that a tie remains, the League consults rankings provided by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). The calculations provided to the League office by the ITA placed Navy at No. 109 nationally and Army at 139th. Therefore, the Mids are the top seed and earn a bye to Saturday's semifinals.

Bucknell, Colgate and Lehigh all finished at 2-3 in League play, with each going 1-1 against the other teams in the tie. All three shared the same record against common League opponents, and there were no common non-League opponents among the trifecta. ITA rankings were again consulted, with Colgate, Lehigh and Bucknell situated at Nos. 223, 237 and 255, respectively. Therefore, the Raiders are the No. 3 seed, the Mountain Hawks the No. 4 and the Bison the No. 5.

Lafayette earned the sixth seed by virtue of its head-to-head victory against Holy Cross, which secured the No. 7 slot.

Friday’s three quarterfinal matches begin with No. 4 Lehigh battling fifth-seeded Bucknell at 10 a.m., followed by third seed Colgate taking on No. 6 Lafayette at 1 p.m. No. 2 Army will go against seventh-seeded Holy Cross at 3 p.m.

The start times for the second and third quarterfinal bouts on Friday are subject to change based on the duration of the Lehigh-Bucknell contest that opens competition.

Saturday’s semifinal matches start at 10 a.m., with top-seeded Navy taking on the winner of the Lehigh-Bucknell quarterfinal. The Army-Holy Cross winner will take the court against the Colgate-Lafayette winner at 2 p.m. in the second semifinal.

Sunday’s championship is set for 1 p.m. and will be contested between Saturday’s semifinal winners.

In the event of inclement weather, competition will be moved indoors to the Lewis Tennis Center, which is adjacent to the Ulrich Varsity Courts.

For more information on the tournament, visit the championship central page here.

2012 Patriot League Women’s Tennis Tournament
Friday, April 20 – Quarterfinals
No. 4 Lehigh vs. No. 5 Bucknell – 10 a.m.
No. 3 Colgate vs. No. 6 Lafayette – 1 p.m.
No. 2 Army vs. No. 7 Holy Cross – 3 p.m.

Saturday, April 21 – Semifinals
No. 1 Navy vs. Lehigh-Bucknell winner – 10 a.m.
Colgate-Lafayette winner vs. Army-Holy Cross winner – 2 p.m.

Sunday, April 22 – Championship – 1 p.m.