BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The UVa-Wise women's tennis team has earned the No. 5 seed at this weekend's Mountain East Conference Women's Tennis Tournament held Friday-Sunday (Oct. 21-23) at the Brian David Fox Tennis Center in Huntington, West Virginia. The fifth-seeded Cavaliers (8-7, 3-4 MEC) will take on the fourth-seeded Hilltoppers of West Liberty (6-4, 4-3 MEC) in the opening quarterfinal round Friday at 11 a.m.
 
Three-time defending champion West Virginia State once again earned the top seed after claiming the regular season title for the fourth-straight year. The Yellow Jackets went 8-1 this fall, including a perfect 7-0 mark in conference play. West Virginia State has yet to drop a conference match in four years of MEC regular season play. The University of Charleston claimed the second seed after going 6-1 in MEC play and 7-1 overall. West Virginia Wesleyan is the third seed by virtue of a narrow 5-4 win over West Liberty back on Oct. 5, giving the Bobcats a 5-2 conference record and 8-2 overall mark. Shepherd University (2-7, 2-5 MEC) rounds out the postseason tournament field as the sixth seed.
 
The Cavs were defeated 6-3 by West Liberty on Sept. 10 in what was UVa-Wise's home and MEC opener. In that contest, UVa-Wise won three out of the six singles matches but fell in all three doubles matches. The Cavs had chances at No. 2 doubles where senior Marti Gay (Denton, Texas) and sophomore Mackenzie Lawson (Wise, Va.) were narrowly defeated 9-7 and at No. 3 singles where senior Bailey Christoforatos (Fredericksburg, Va.) lost a three-set match.
 
UVa-Wise has earned the No. 5 or No. 4 seed in the MEC tournament each of the last three years. This marks the second-consecutive year and third overall the Cavs have been seeded fifth. Each of the previous three seasons UVa-Wise has played West Virginia Wesleyan in the first round of the tournament. The Cavs are seeking their first postseason win after being defeated by the Lady Bobcats 5-2 in 2013, 5-1 in 2014 and 5-4 in 2015.
 
If UVa-Wise wins its opening quarterfinal match with West Liberty, the Cavs will face top-seeded West Virginia State in the semifinals Saturday at 11 a.m. The Yellow Jackets defeated UVa-Wise 7-2 this past Sunday in the Cavs' regular season finale.
 
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