Lady Bison Face Augustana in NCAA Regional

SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist heads to Tahlequah for its initial adventure into the NCAA Tournament and will play Augustana at 1 p.m., Saturday.
 
The winner meets Northeastern State in Central Region I at 1 p.m., Sunday.
 
Augustana is the fifth seed in the Central Region and OBU is the fourth seed. NSU is the No. 1 seed. The winner of Central Region I will advance to the round of 16 in Surprise, Arizona.
 
Augustana enters the tournament with a 21-3 record and went 11-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Kornelia Stanszewska went unbeaten in 17 singles matches – all at No. 1. They went 103-16 in singles and 60-12 in doubles for the year.
 
"We don't know much about them," OBU Coach Nick Papac said of AU. "We just need to keep playing aggressively and keep having fun. It will be a tough match, no doubt. We couldn't be more excited for the match and to represent OBU in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Kateryna Shkot enters at 6-0 in No. 1 singles and 14-3 overall. She is on a seven-match win streak, as are Madeleine Boepple and Alex Bowers.
 
Shkot and Kim Moosbacher have won eight consecutive matches at No. 1 doubles and are 14-2 on the season.
 
OBU and Augustana have not played each other and had no common opponents this season. The Lady Bison beat Northeastern State in Tahlequah last season, 5-4. Both OBU and Northeastern State scored one-sided victories over Washburn, Lindenwood and Southeastern Oklahoma State this season.
 
Northeastern State is ranked seventh in the Oracle/ITA Division II Women's Computer Rankings. OBU is ranked 31^st and Augustana 49^th.
 
Tatjana Stoll of NSU is ranked eighth in singles, followed by Staniszewska at No. 14, Mayra Jovic of NSU at No. 35, Moosbacher at No. 49 and Shkot at No. 55.
 
Shkot and Moosbacher are ranked No. 20 in doubles, Molly Worden and Stoll are No. 22 for NSU, AU's Staniszewska and Berkley Darr are No. 44 and NSU's Karla Tomaic and Jovic are No. 50.
 
The Lady Bison earned their first trip to the NCAA Tournament with a two-match championship run through the Great American Conference Tournament.