Practice in the Desert

The Armstrong tennis teams had their final practice today before the beginning of the NCAA Round of 16 in Surprise, Ariz. 

Those of you remember last year with our DII Spring Sports Festival Blog that women's golf featured prominently in the Pirates' goings-on in Louisville. Well, history repeated itself somewhat today when junior Kristen Sammarco birdied the second playoff hole to earn a bid into the 2013 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships, following in the footsteps of Jenna Birch from last season. What this means is, unlike in the past when the tennis season was complete, 

Armstrong athletics will still be in action after Saturday with Sammarco traveling to Daytona Beach and LPGA International for nationals. Two straight individual qualifiers in women's golf and the team advanced to the regionals for the first time... it might be time to contemplate a women's golf blog in the future!

Also, a reminder that the NCAA will be providing live video of matches each day. Armstrong's first-round matches against New York Tech and Northwood (Mich.) will be webstreamed on Wednesday. So catch a peek at the Pirates as they open up their title defense at the NCAA video link to the right!

The NCAA.com also did men's and women's tennis previews for this week's action. Obviously a lot of the pre-championship buildup centers on the Pirates and Barry, but there are other dangerous teams out there, two of which could be the other Peach Belt squads out in Arizona this week - the Columbus State women and the Lander men. The CSU women have a brutal first-round matchup in Abilene Christian - that's #5 vs. #6 in the nation in the first round.

The blog will be back later tonight with pics from the annual ITA Awards Banquet, which is being combined with a welcome banquet from the NCAA held at the Surprise Racquet & Tennis Complex.