NATCHITOCHES – The Southland Conference Tournament champion Northwestern State women's tennis team will play its opening round NCAA Team Championships match in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Friday, May 10 against the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide.
 
The first-round match is set to begin at 1 p.m. CST at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The winner of Friday's match will advance to a Saturday second-round match against the winner of the Florida State and Memphis contest.
 
The Lady Demons (14-7) have not faced the Crimson Tide (19-5) in a dual-match since 1981 when Alabama escaped with a 5-4 victory.
  
“We are pretty excited about this match up,” said Lady Demon head coach Patric DuBois. “They are in our region so we know a lot about them already and we have played at their courts before. We are just going to compete as hard as we can and see what we can do against a great team like Alabama.”
 
This is the eighth NCAA appearance for DuBois overall and second with NSU. The Lady Demons made their first trip to the tournament in 2010, falling to No. 1 Baylor 4-0 in the first round match.
 
“We only have one senior this year and a lot of our underclassmen really improved and peaked at the right time for the Southland Conference Tournament,” said DuBois. “All of the hard work we have put in this year and all of the fitness is paying off now and our reward is a trip to the NCAA's to play the No. 9 team in the country down in Tuscaloosa.”
 
For the only local player on the roster, the regional site in the tournament is well received.
 
“This is an amazing feeling to be able to experience this success with such a young team,” said Leesville native Amy Williams. “I love being a local player because everyone here is so supportive. We have played in tournaments at Alabama before so we know the courts and we are ready to fight for the win.”
 
Coach DuBois notes that preparing for the match against Alabama will be no different than for any other match.
 
“We are going to go out there and practice like we would always do,” said DuBois. “If we are loose and ready to play I think we have the ability to compete very well.”

Live scoring for the match will be available at RollTide.com along with a tournament central page. Fans will also be able to view play-by-play information on Alabama's Twitter feed, @AlabamaWTN.