May 2, 2012

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Courtney Collins earned the program's first entrance into the 2012 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships on Wednesday afternoon. Collins, ranked 34th in the latest ITA rankings, earned the automatic bid from Conference USA to compete in the singles tournament and is awaiting the bracket to be released to learn her opponent.

The junior netter has posted a 15-3 record in dual meets during the spring season after recording a 12-3 record during the fall. Collins was named Conference USA Player of the Week on Feb. 28, after defeating a pair of highly ranked opponents, No. 9 Chelsey Gullickson of 6th-ranked Georgia and No. 31 Jackie Wu of 18th-ranked Vanderbilt.

Collins has played matches against five opponents that were selected for the singles championship, posting a 4-2 record in those contests. In addition to the victories over Gullickson, who earned the No. 8 seed, and Wu, Collins defeated No. 30 Petra Niedermayerova (Kansas State) and No. 70 Anastasia Erofeeva (Tulsa). Collins lost to No. 45 Jillian O'Neill (Georgia Tech), who earned the No. 14 seed in the championship, and No. 71 Erofeeva in a rematch during the C-USA Championships.

A native of Fulton, Miss., Collins became the first Tiger in program history to enter the ITA rankings on Feb. 14, 2011, when she was ranked No. 107. She has been ranked in every poll this season, earning a personal- and program-best No. 27 on Feb. 27.

The singles championship, hosted by the University of Georgia, will be held at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., May 23-28. Information on Collins' berth into the NCAA Championships will be released on GoTigersGo.com as it is made available.