HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne women's tennis team earned the #5 seed in the NCAA Southeast Regional and will face off against #4 seeded North Georgia on Friday at 1 pm.

Both teams will travel to Salisbury, North Carolina, as Catawba earned the No. 1 seed and hosting duties. The winner of Friday's matchup will face off against the winner of Catawba and Erskine Saturday at 2 pm.

The #12 ranked Bears currently sport a 15-3 (10-1 SAC) record and advanced to their first SAC Championship game in program history after defeating rival Wingate 4-2 in the SAC semi-finals. Runa Muderrisoglu, Nellie Wahlberg, Sandra Mahbouli, Mehetia Boosie, and Alexa Allison were all named All-Conference honorees, while head coach Sam Clarke was the SAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year. This will be the first NCAA appearance for the Bears.

North Georgia, ranked #16 in the most recent ITA poll, comes into Friday's matchup with a 16-7 (5-2 PBC) record. They fell 4-2 to Flagler in their conference semi-finals. The Nighthawks have had a string of success recently as this will be their ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, with two national quarterfinal appearances and a run to the semi-finals in 2024.