INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis Committee announced Wednesday the 29th-ranked Slippery Rock University women's team had received a berth in the 2009 NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis Championships.

The Rock will take a 20-4 record into a second-round match against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference rival Kutztown University (11-5) at a time yet to be determined May 8 in an Atlantic Regional Preliminary Round competition hosted by Bloomsburg University.

The Rock-Kutztown match will be a replay of last Saturday's consolation match in the PSAC Championships, also held in Bloomsburg, which The Rock won by a 5-1 score to finish third in the conference standings.

The action May 7-9 in Bloomsburg will feature five teams in a single-elimination competition.

Virginia State (14-4) will play Elizabeth City State (12-6) in a first-round match May 7. The winner of that match will play Bloomsburg (13-5) in a second-round match May 8.

The Rock-Kutztown winner meets the winner of the VSU-ECSU-BU second-round match May 9. The winner of that match advances to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Fla., hosted May 13-16 by the Central Florida Sports Commission and Rollins College. 

This year's regional tournament berth is the third straight earned by The Rock. SRU won an East Regional title last spring after it had lost to Bloomsburg in a 2007 regional final on the Huskies' home courts.

Last year's regional title, claimed by 5-0 and 5-1 wins over Holy Family College and hosting Bryant (R.I.) College, respectively, earned SRU its second round-of-16 berth in school history. The Green and White made its maiden voyage to the national finals in 2003.

SRU is in NCAA postseason competition for the ninth time in school history and the eighth time in the last 10 seasons.

The Rock will have a final tuneup match prior to the NCAA tournament when they host neighboring Grove City College in a 5 p.m.match Monday.