Sept. 25, 2012
SEATTLE - The Husky women's tennis team has charted a path for the upcoming school year that it hopes will lead back to the NCAA Championships next May. Washington will kick things off next month with individual tournament play, then move into dual match action beginning in January. The St. Mary's Invitational is the first stop for the women this fall, a three-day tourney starting Oct. 12. The annual Northwest Regionals tourney starts Oct. 19 at Stanford, followed in November by the USTA Collegiate Invitational in Portland and the SDSU Fall Classic II. Head Coach Jill Hultquist will lead the young Husky squad into their dual match season opener at home on January 15 against Seattle U. Typical of recent challenging Husky schedules, Washington will earn the frequent flier miles, as UW has just nine home dates compared to 13 road matches. Easing into life on the road, UW's first trip will be to Honolulu to face Hawai'i and former assistant coach Damon Coupe's Cal Poly team on Jan. 19-20. Then it will be an early season trip to Los Angeles for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships qualifying rounds. UW will take on San Francisco in the first round then either UCLA or San Diego in the second round, with the winner advancing to the final site in February. A trip to San Diego to face the Aztecs of San Diego State and Gaels of St. Mary's will be followed by a trip into SEC country. Washington heads south to take on Alabama and Ole Miss in mid-February. Finally returning home, the Huskies will host Portland and Iowa State at the beginning of March. Then it's time for the ever-difficult Pac-12 schedule, with UW traveling to face Stanford, California, and Oregon all in a row. USC visits on March 22, followed by NCAA runner-up UCLA on March 23. Washington remains home to face Arizona State and Arizona the following week. A trip to Utah and Colorado takes the Dawgs into April. Sacramento State breaks up the conference run on Apr. 13, but the Huskies then close out the regular season at home against Washington State on Apr. 20. The Pac-12 Championships wrap up April, with the format remaining the same for the women with individual draws rather than a team tournament. UW will look to be playing on May 10 when NCAA Regionals start, and make a run to Urbana, Ill., which hosts the NCAA round of 16 and beyond plus the singles and doubles tourneys this spring. |
