BIG SKY RELEASE: Tournament notes

GOLD RIVER, Calif. -- Northern Colorado's women's tennis team will begin play in its second straight Big Sky Conference Tennis Championship at 3 p.m. (MT) Friday, April 24, at the Gold River Raquet Club.

The Bears, a No. 4 seed in this year's field after qualifying in the sixth-and-final spot last season, will first play No. 5-seed Eastern Washington.

A victory there would send Northern Colorado into a semifinal match on Saturday, April 25, against either Sacramento State (No. 1) or Montana State (No. 2).

The conference-championship match is slated to begin at 3 p.m. (MT) Sunday, April 26.

The Bears defeated the Eagles 6-1 earlier this season in Greeley but lost to both the Hornets (7-0) and the Bobcats (6-1).

Northern Colorado qualified for its first Big Sky Conference Tennis Championship berth last season, but its postseason run was short-lived after Montana State knocked out the sixth-seeded Bears in the first round.