NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - After clinching its first North Atlantic Conference (NAC) title this past fall, the Lesley University women's tennis team earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. On Monday, the Lynx learned that their first round matchup will be against No. 12 Johns Hopkins at host site Middlebury College on Friday, May 9 at noon. 

Lesley women's tennis head coach and NAC Coach of the year Jessica Russo, says her and her team are looking forward to competing in such a big time matchup this week. "The team and I are very excited to have made it this far," said Russo. Our student-athletes have all worked so hard and I am extremely proud of each of them. We are honored to represent Lesley University and the NAC in the tournament this Friday." 

Five Things To Know

• Friday's appearence in the NCAA Tournament marks the first ever for the Lynx in program history.
• This friday's contest will mark the first meeting between Johns Hopkins and Lesley.
• Johns Hopkins will be making their 18th consecutive appearence in the tournament after earning an at-large bid. The Blue Jays currently hold a 27-18 all-time tournament record. 
• Both teams have won five of their last sixt matches to cap off their regular seasons.
• The winner of Friday's matchup will play either No. 13 Babson College or UMass Boston on Saturday, May 10 at 2:00 p.m.

Who to Watch For

• Lesley will be highlighted by NAC Player of the year and All-Conference singles and doubles honoree, Mary Osucha (Knoxville, Tenn.). On the year, she went 13-1 overall (5-0 NAC) in singles matches during the regular season. Meanwhile, in the postseason, Osucha was a perfect 2-0 against Thomas and Husson. In doubles, her and fellow All-Conference doubles member Lucy Boyce (Marshfield, Mass.) posted an impressive 10-2 (5-0 NAC) record during the regular season. Seven of those victories came in the number one spot, whereas five were in the number two position. In the NAC Playoffs, the duo won their matchups versus Thomas (8-1) and Husson (8-6), all at number two. 
• The Lynx will also feature one of three other All-Conference singles honorees in Jessica Legendre (Leesville, La.). Legendre's regular season was also just as dominant as the junior posted a 11-1 record (5-0 NAC) at the number two spot in singles action. In all her wins this year, her closest score was a 7-5 win in the season opener at UMass Dartmouth. Seven of her 11 singles win this year came in a straight set as well including a stretch where she won four in a row in straight sets . In the postseason, Legendre continued her dominant run from the regular season and was victorious in both her matchups against Thomas (6-2, 6-1) and Husson (6-0, 6-1). Meanwhile in doubles, her and Caroline Champa (Boston, Mass.) both earned All-Conference doubles honors from the NAC and the duo combined for a a perfect record of 8-0 (4-0 NAC) at both the one and two spots. The duo kept up their strong regular-season play in the postseason, going 2-0 against Thomas (8-1) and Husson (8-4), all in the number one spot. 
• Along with Legendre and Osucha, Champa was also chosen for All-Conference singles. Champa finished with a perfect record in singles action this year, going 9-0 (4-0 NAC), and also won both her NAC playoff matchups. All her wins this season came in the number three spot. Five of her wins this year ended up being straight-set sweeps. 
• One of the key student-athletes for Johns Hopkins will be Kamila Wong who is currently tied for 19th in program history with 37 career singles wins and tied for 13th with 82 total wins. On the year, Wong finished 10-2 with most of her wins coming at the number six spot. In her matchup against No. 13 Trinity University, she took down their six spot in singles, 6-1, 6-4. In doubles, the pairing of her and Ava Li went 16-5 and in their last 10, the duo has gone 7-3 including three-straight. 
• Another top student-athlete for the Blue Jays this year was Jay Xiao who is currently tied for 18th in doubles victories with 42 and is 23rd all-time with 73 total victories. In doubles this year, her and the pairing of her and Lia Melvin went 13-6 on the year and are on a two-match win streak going into Friday. Their most notable doubles win came against No. 5 Wesleyan when they took down its number two pairing, 6-4.