NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College women's tennis program is headed back to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year, the sixth time since 2012, and ninth time overall.
 
The Knights (20-0) will travel to Chicago, Ill., for the NCAA Regional that will feature first-, second-, and third-round matches from May 4-6.
 
Carleton, which won the MIAC's regular-season and postseason titles, opens the national tournament at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 4. The Knights will face Concordia University Wisconsin (16-6), which was the automatic qualifier out of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC). The victor of that contest advances to face the winner of a match between University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (14-5) and University of Northwestern-St. Paul (19-8) at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 5.
 
No. 36 UW-Whitewater earned the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (WIAC) bid to the NCAA Championships for a 15th consecutive year, while UNWSP was the automatic qualifier out of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC).
 
The other side of the regional bracket includes an opening-round matchup between Grinnell College (15-7) and Luther College (19-10). Grinnell earned the Midwest Conference AQ while Luther is the qualifier out of the American Rivers Conference. The winner of that match will face regional host and national No. 1 University of Chicago (19-0), which was 1 of 15 schools to receive a first-round bye. The Maroons won the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship.
 
The second-round winners advance to the regional final to be played at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 6.
 
A total of 49 teams received spots in this year's NCAA Championships. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals will be held May 14-17 at USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
 
Chicago Regional Tentative Match Schedule
 
Thursday, May 4
Match 1 @ 9:00 AM – University of Wisconsin-Whitewater vs. University of Northwestern-St. Paul
Match 2 @ 12:00 PM – Carleton College vs. Concordia University Wisconsin
Match 3 @ 3:00 PM – Grinnell College vs. Luther College
 
Friday, May 5
Match 4 @ 10:00 AM – Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2
Match 5 @ 2:00 PM – University of Chicago vs. Winner of Match 3
 
Saturday, May 6
Match 6 @ 11:00 AM – Regional final match