INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the first time in program history, the Yeshiva University women's tennis team will compete in the NCAA Division III tournament, on Thursday. The Maccabees (10-3) will battle the nationally-ranked No. 18 Thoroughbreds of Skidmore College (15-5), on the Proctor Tennis Courts. First serve is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Middlebury College will be hosting the regional, up in Middlebury, Vermont. The match will be streamed via Facebook Live on the Yeshiva Athletics page. 
 
The women's tennis team will be the first women's program in school history to compete in the NCAA Postseason Tournament. The Maccabees earned the automatic bid by winning their first Skyline Conference Championship since 1999. Yeshiva defeated Mount Saint Mary College for the conference title, 5-1.

Skidmore is no stranger to winning conference championships, or competing in the NCAA Tournament. The Thoroughbreds have won eight consecutive Liberty League Tournament Championships. Last season, Skidmore defeated Elizabethtown College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 5-0,  before being eliminated by Amherst in the second round.

Leading the way for Yeshiva will be senior Shani Hava. The two-time Skyline Player of the Year was named the Most Outstanding Player of the conference championship match. She is 31-3 in her career at No. 1 singles. Hava has also been named to the Skyline All-Conference first team all four years of her illustrious collegiate career. The Petach Tikva native won both #1 singles flights and both #1 doubles positions in the Skyline Championships, on her way to leading her team to the conference title.

Junior Rebecca Packer was named to the Skyline All-Conference first team for the second year in a row.  The Teaneck resident won all six of her Skyline doubles matches, all in the #1 position, during the regular season. Her 6-0 singles record was the best in the conference. She teamed with Hava to win every game in the first doubles position in the semifinal match against Purchase. She earned wins in the first doubles position and at #3 singles in the championship match against Mount Saint Mary.

Yeshiva University head coach Naomi Kaszovitz was named the Skyline Coach of the Year for the second time in her career (2014 and 2017).

The full NCAA Division III tournament bracket can be seen here.