Complete Release in PDF Format

April 16, 2008

HOUSTON, TEXAS - The Marshall University's women's tennis team ended its regular season, 15-8, and will travel to the University of Houston to challenge for its first Conference USA elite crown since joining the conference two years ago. Junior Karolina Soor (Lindesberg, Sweden) was honored with the C-USA Player of the Week accolade Tuesday, which was her first career selection.

The Thundering Herd earned four C-USA POW honors in 2008, with junior Kellie Schmitt (Pittsburgh, Pa.) adding three (March 11, Jan. 23 and 29).

In the latest rankings, Marshall holds its highest rank of the 2008 season at 50th. Schmitt stands as the 53rd-ranked player while the pair of Schmitt and Soor are ranked 31st.

For the second time in three years, the Herd (50th) will be the No. 2 seed in the C-USA tennis championship, which earned the team a bye into second round play. Marshall will face the winner of UCF and Memphis, Friday, at the John E. Hoff Courts with first serve set for 2 p.m. CT.

The 48th-ranked Tulsa squad was selected as the No. 1 seed while Rice University (64th) will play as the No. 3 seed.

SMU and Southern Miss finished out the top five seeds with first round byes. SMU's Natalia Bubien stands 105th with the pair of Bubien and Pavi Francis ranked 40th.

"We are all excited for conference because we ended the regular season strong and in a positive direction," Marshall's junior Schmitt said. "We have six players ready to win and carry the optimistic track into the tournament."

Marshall will enter conference play on a three-match winning streak, including victories against then ranked 56th Virginia Tech, 4-3, and Louisville (39th), 5-2.

"We finished the regular season with two great wins over VT and Louisville," Marshall's junior Soor continued. "Those matches prepared us for C-USA and built confidence after a tough streak of matches."

In 2007, the Herd finished second at the C-USA championship after a 4-0 loss to Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla.

Schmitt (53rd) finished regular season action 20-2 at the number one position and joined Joelle Good (2001-05) and Alyssa Bengel (1995-99) at the top of the record books with 93 all-time career singles victories.

The Herd leads the all-time series against Rice, 2-1, as well as a 1-0 advantage over SMU and UTEP. However, Tulsa and Houston owns the all-time series over the Herd, 1-0.

"I believe we are emotionally and mentally ready to compete for the championship," Marshall's head coach John Mercer added.

Complete brackets and updates on the C-USA women's tennis championship are available at http://conferenceusa.cstv.com/championships/08-w-tennis-championship.html or at http://herdzone.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mars-w-tennis-body.html.