No. 69 DePaul Earns No. 4 Seed for BIG EAST Championship
Blue Demons play either Georgetown or Seton Hall on Friday at 11 a.m.
April 17, 2012
2012 BIG EAST Championship Bracket 
| BIG EAST Championship Central
CHICAGO – The No. 69 DePaul women's tennis team earned the No. 4 seed in the 2012 BIG EAST Conference Championship, April, 19-22 in Tampa, Fla. No. 19 Notre Dame received the top seed for the 16th time in 17 seasons; No. 40 USF is the No. 2 seed and No. 57 Syracuse is the third seed.
The league's tournament is being played on the campus of USF with matches held at the USF Varsity Court, P.E. Courts and the Andros Door Court. The event runs simultaneously with the men's tournament. The championship match for both the men and the women will be played on Sunday at the Varsity Courts with the winner of each earning the league's automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
“We are really looking forward to a great tournament,” Blue Demon head coach Mark Ardizzone said.
“The league keeps getting stronger and stronger. With four teams in the National Rankings and a few others that can be -- it really makes you play your best tennis over a long stretch. We are looking forward to the challenge ahead of us.”
The Blue Demons (14-7, 5-2 BIG EAST) earned a first round bye and open the tournament against either fifth-seeded Georgetown or the 12th-seed in Seton Hall on Friday at 11 a.m.
The Hoyas enter the tournament with a 15-5 record, are 5-2 in BIG EAST matches and have won their last eight matches heading into their opening round dual with Seton Hall.
The Pirates are the tournaments 12th seed after going 7-13 overall and were 2-4 in BIG EAST matches. Seton Hall enters the Championship having dropped six of its last eight matches.
DePaul heads into Friday’s match having won four of its last five matches while three of those four wins were 7-0 BIG EAST victories. The Blue Demons have combined for a 128-84 singles record on the year; while senior Gia McKnight leads the squad with her 6-1 BIG EAST mark.
McKnight enters the Championship with a 21-14 singles record, while the senior has tallied 20 or more wins in three of her four seasons. Her 90 career singles victories record ranks fifth on DePaul’s all-time win list.
Freshman Patricia Fargas paces the Blue Demons with her 26-12 singles record while Kelsey Lawson has also reached the 20-win mark this season. Fargas boasts a 5-2 BIG EAST record while she is 13-3 in the second singles position.
DePaul finished third at the BIG EAST Championship a year ago while the team advanced to the Championship match in both 2009 and 2010.
BIG EAST Championship Seeds
1. Notre Dame
2. USF
3. Syracuse
4. DePaul
5. Georgetown
6. Louisville
7. Marquette
8. Rutgers
9. Cincinnati
10. St. John’s
11. Pittsburgh
12. Seton Hall
