Teams: Women's Tennis: Press Releases

BROWNE IN SINGLES, BROWN/MCCOOEY IN DOUBLES QUALIFY FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD

Julia Browne (left) and Meghan McCooey will play in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships later this month

MEDFORD -- On Wednesday, the NCAA Division 3 Women's Tennis Committee selected individuals and doubles teams that will compete in the 2009 NCAA Division 3 Women's Tennis Championships. Tufts University sophomore Julia Browne (Old Brookville, NY) is an individual qualifier, and the Jumbo doubles tandem of Browne and junior captain Meghan McCooey (Cumberland, RI) also qualified.

The individual championships, which are separate from the team championships, include 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams. The singles and doubles championships will be co-hosted by Oglethorpe University and Gwinnett Sports Commission, May 22-24, at Collins Hill Athletic Club in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Browne is 21-2 overall in singles play for the 2008-09 season, including 14-0 in dual matches. She has victories over other NCAA singles qualifiers Leslie Hansen from MIT (twice), Kalla Schaefer of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Carlissa King from Amherst, Grace Baljon from Williams, Victoria Aiello from Middlebury, Sarah D'Elia from Bowdoin (twice) and Brittany Berckes from Amherst. She also defeated NCAA alternate Maria Watanabe from Wellesley. Browne played in the NCAA Singles field as a first-year last season, going 1-1.

Browne and McCooey have earned a 23-3 record as a doubles pair this year, including 12-1 in dual matches. They combined for victories against other NCAA combos Berckes and Natasha Brown from Amherst (twice), D'Elia and Emily Lombardi from Bowdoin (three times), Kristin Cobb and Marta Drane from Dennison, Katie Tabb and Lauren Caire from Washington & Lee and Molly Fiala and Andrea Schupbach from Coe. Browne and McCooey defeated the Dennison duo 6-2, 6-2 to win the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Small College Doubles National Championship back in October.

Browne is the fourth seed in the NCAA Singles draw. She will play Kalla Schaefer from Wisconsin-Whitewater in the first round on May 22 at 9:00 am. Browne and McCooey are the #2 seed in the NCAA Doubles tournament. The will face Kelly Fox and Liz Lewis from Chapman University in the first round on May 22 at 3:00 pm. Play continues through May 24.

Tufts also qualified for the NCAA Championships as a team for the ninth time. They open play on Saturday at Amherst College against either Bowdoin or UMass Dartmouth.

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