May 4, 2026

Moravian Women Heading to Massachusetts to Play Hunter (N.Y.) in Opening Round of 2026 NCAA DIII Women’s Tennis Championships on May 8

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The Moravian University women’s tennis team, fresh off of winning the 2026 Landmark Conference Championship, will be heading to Amherst (Mass.) College to play Hunter (N.Y.) College in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament on Friday, May 8 at 10:00 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The Moravian University women's tennis team, fresh off of winning the 2026 Landmark Conference Championship, will be heading to Amherst (Mass.) College to play Hunter (N.Y.) College in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament on Friday, May 8 at 10:00 a.m.

The Greyhounds enter the NCAA Tournament with a 17-3 record this season including an 8-1 mark in Landmark Conference action under the guidance of fifth-year Director of Tennis Mariana Freitas. Moravian won its sixth Landmark Conference title with a 4-3 victory over The University of Scranton on Saturday to secure the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Moravian is making its fifth trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Blue and Grey fell to Johns Hopkins University in 2007 and the University of Mary Washington (Va.) in 2011 in the program's first two NCAA appearances, both by 5-0 scores. Moravian earned the first NCAA Tournament win in program history in 2019 with a 5-0 victory over Cairn University before falling to Middlebury (Vt.) College, 5-0, in the second round. The Hounds' last appearance in 2021 saw the squad defeat Transylvania (Ky.) University, 5-1, in the first round before dropping a 5-0 decision to Wesleyan (Conn.) University in the second round.

The single-elimination tournament features first, second and third rounds played at regional sites, May 7-9 or May 8-10. The University of the South will host the team championships finals, which will be held May 19-22 at Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga. Tennessee.

The championship provides for a 49-team tournament. Automatic qualification (AQ) is granted to 37 conference champions, which form "Pool A." The remaining 12 teams are selected from those teams in conferences with automatic bids that did not win their conference's AQ. The teams are geographically paired, whenever possible.

Freshman Kaelyn Balko has an 18-1 record in singles action to lead the Greyhounds while junior Sydney Shifman is 17-3 on the year after a three-plus hour singles match to clinch the Landmark Conference title on Saturday. Senior Izzy Szmodis has a 13-7 mark while freshman Natalia Smith is 12-5. Junior Leah Zolotareva has a 10-7 record while freshman Fraukje van Baars is 6-2 on the season. Sophomore Jenna Gower is 5-4 in singles while freshman Madi Schottman has a 5-6 mark.

Szmodis and Zolotareva have combined for a 17-7 doubles record with Szmodis breaking the career doubles victory mark, now with 65. Shifman and Smith have teamed up for a 12-4 mark while Gower and van Baars have a 6-2 slate. Balko is 21-5 with multiple partners including a 9-3 slate with Gower and a 4-1 mark with Smith. Gower and Shifman are 1-2 on the season. Schottman and Shifman have a 1-1 record.