The Hope College women’s tennis team will travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this week for the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular-season and tournament champions will face John Carroll (Ohio) in Thursday’s first-round match at Carnegie Mellon University at a time to be announced.

NCAA Tournament bracket

This is the Flying Dutch’s 13th NCAA Tournament team appearance and seventh in a row. The Flying Dutch reached last season’s regional final before losing to Washington-St. Louis.

Postseason history 

Hope qualified for postseason play by beating Calvin 5-0 in Friday’s MIAA Tournament final. Head coach Bob Cawood has led the Flying Dutch to 13-8 overall record in his first season.

John Carroll (18-6 overall) is champion of the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Thursday’s winner in the Pittsburgh will play fifth-ranked Wesleyan (Connecticut) in Friday’s semifinal. The winner of Thursday’s other first-round game between No. 22 Kenyon (Ohio) and Wheaton (Illinois) will face No. 9 Carnegie Mellon in Friday’s other semifinal. The championship match is Saturday.

The regional champion advances to the national championship on Monday-Friday, May 21-26 at The Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, California.

The NCAA field includes 49 teams, including 40 conference champions.