NCAA Regional Ranking I
ITA Central Region RankingsINDIANAPOLIS – The No. 31-ranked Northeastern State women's tennis team remained in the third position in the final releasing of NCAA Central Region Rankings, the National Collegiate Athletics Association announced Wednesday afternoon.
The top seven programs from the Central Region will advance to the 2014 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship opening rounds, which will begin the weekend of May 2. The top team from the region will host Nos. 4 and 5 and earn a bye, while the team that lands at No. 2 will host Nos. 3, 6 and 7. The final two teams left standing will advance to the NCAA Round of 16, which will be held May 14-17 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
The NCAA Selection Show will be held at 7:30 p.m. April 29 on NCAA.com. The NCAA Central Region is comprised of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, the Great American Conference and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
The nine teams did not move from last week's ranking. No. 27 Southwest Baptist remained in the top spot, No. 30 Augustana is still second and the RiverHawks are third.
The ITA Regional Rankings were also announced Wednesday, and NSU claimed the top spot in the Central Region for the first time since
Amanda Stone took over as head coach. This also marked the first time since the most recent region realignment (prior to the 2012-13 season) that Southwest Baptist was not ranked No. 1. The Bearcats slipped to No. 2, while the Vikings were slotted at No. 3.
Sophomore
Kristina Savchenkov supplanted SBU's Fanni Varga as the top singles player in the region, while seniors
Martina Bruzikova (No. 16) and
Houda Bellamine (No. 19) also landed in the top 20.
The doubles pair of Bruzikova and freshman
Valeriia Efimenko earned a rank of No. 7, while Savchenkov and junior
Barbora Jirickova were ranked No. 10.
The RiverHawks are next scheduled to participate in the 2014 MIAA Championship April 25-27. The tournament will feature four other programs in the top 8 of the Central Region.
2014 NCAA CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS (April 23) | School | In-Region Record | Overall Record | Last Week |
| 1. | Southwest Baptist (MIAA) | 15-2 | 18-2 | 1 |
| 2. | Augustana (NSIC) | 15-0 | 16-0 | 2 |
| 3. | Northeastern State (MIAA) | 15-3 | 15-3 | 3 |
| 4. | Harding (GAC) | 15-4 | 15-4 | 4 |
| 5. | Arkansas Tech (GAC) | 11-4 | 11-4 | 5 |
| 6. | Nebraska-Kearney (MIAA) | 10-6 | 12-6 | 6 |
| 7. | Central Oklahoma (MIAA) | 12-6 | 13-8 | 7 |
| 8. | Emporia State (MIAA) | 12-6 | 12-6 | 8 |
| 9. | U-Mary (NSIC) | 10-1 | 10-3 | 9 |
2014 ITA CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS (April 23)| 1. | Northeastern State (MIAA) |
| 2. | Southwest Baptist (MIAA) |
| 3. | Augustana (NSIC) |
| 4. | Harding (GAC) |
| 5. | Nebraska-Kearney (MIAA) |
| 6. | Arkansas Tech (GAC) |
| 7. | Central Oklahoma (MIAA) |
| 8. | Northwest Missouri State (MIAA) |
| 9. | Southern Nazarene (GAC) |
| 10. | Upper Iowa (NSIC) |
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