SAN ANTONIO – UTSA will travel to Norfolk, Va., for the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship this week. The Roadrunners will open the tournament as the No. 12 seed and will face fifth-seeded Middle Tennessee at 2 p.m. (CT) Thursday in the opening round matchup at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
The winner of the first-round match will advance to play either No. 4 seed Florida Atlantic or 13th-seeded Marshall at 1 p.m. (CT) Friday.
UTSA (8-11) completed the regular season winning two of its last three matches. However, the Roadrunners dropped a 4-0 decision at UT Arlington in the regular-season finale last Thursday.
Laura Cabrera enters the tournament having won five consecutive singles matches. The Barcelona, Spain, native leads UTSA with a 14-4 mark on the singles courts.
Charleen Tiwari is 10-8 in singles play, while Denisa Ibrahimovic has collected seven victories in individual matchups.
The duo of Cabrera and Sonia Madroñal lead the Roadrunners with seven wins in doubles play, all at the second position.
In last year's Conference USA Tournament, UTSA advanced to the second round after defeating Southern Miss, 4-2, in the opening contest. The Roadrunners were eliminated by a 5-0 loss to Rice.
The Blue Raiders (17-7) roll into the conference tournament on a three-match winning streak. Middle Tennessee closed out the regular season last Sunday with a 4-1 win against Xavier.
Lidia Burrows leads four Blue Raiders with double-digit victories. Burrows has accumulated a 13-7 mark in singles action this spring.
UTSA and Middle Tennessee have not met since March 22, 2015, when the Blue Raiders defeated the Roadrunners by a 5-2 score. The two teams also have only met one other time in the league's postseason tournament, as Middle Tennessee eliminated UTSA in the opening round in 2014, 4-2.
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— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) April 16, 2018
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