Jan. 15, 2008

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine women's tennis team has been ranked 37th in the country by the ITA preseason rankings and is UCI's highest preseason ranking ever.

UCI's 2008 schedule features 15 teams ranked in the preseason top 75, including Big West rivals, No. 41 Long Beach State, No. 63 Cal Poly and No. 69 Cal State Northridge. UCI also faces No. 3 UCLA, No. 8 USC, No. 14 Fresno State, No. 18 Pepperdine, No. 33 Louisiana State, No. 44 Boise State, No. 48 San Diego State, No. 54 Pennsylvania, No. 57 Saint Mary's, No. 64 Loyola Marymount, No. 66 Nevada and No. 71 Yale.

The Anteaters finished the 2006-07 season ranked 35th nationally after a first round loss to Texas in the NCAA Tournament to finish with a 21-5 record. UCI was ranked as high as No. 28 in the country during the season as the team won the Big West regular season championship with a perfect 7-0 record in conference play.

UCI opens the season January 25th at No. 8 USC at 1:30 p.m. at Marks Stadium in Los Angeles.