NORMAL, Ill. – The 2022 Missouri Valley Conference tournament champion Illinois State women's tennis team is headed to Columbus, Ohio, to take on No. 10 seed Ohio State in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship on Saturday at the Auer Tennis Complex.

The Redbirds (17-6) will be making their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, with the last coming in 2019 when they headed to the West Coast to take on USC. The 'Birds punched their ticket to the NCAA Championship after a thrilling 4-3 win over No. 1 seed and host Drake in the finals of the MVC Championship two weekends ago.

The Buckeyes (20-5) will be making their eighth consecutive and 18th overall NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. OSU has won 11 of its last 12 matches, with the lone loss to No. 20 Michigan in the final of the Big Ten Tournament but went 11-0 in Big Ten play during the regular season to earn the league's outright title.

The first-round matches Saturday in Columbus will begin with Xavier and Vanderbilt meeting at 9 a.m. CT., followed by the Buckeyes and Redbirds at Noon CT. The first-round winners will meet at 11 a.m. Sunday for a spot in the Round of 16.

Matches are set to be played outside at the Auer Tennis Complex. In the event of inclement weather, play will be moved inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center. Check GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State women's tennis social media accounts on match day for location information. Admission and parking will be free for all NCAA matches in Columbus. Live scoring and video, through the Tennis One app, will be available for all matches.

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