By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

FREDERICKSBURG, VA. -- Willamette University women's tennis player Natalia Agarycheva (Jr., Vancouver, WA/Prairie HS/U. of Northern Colorado) will take on the #3 seed, Julia Browne of Tufts University (Mass.), in the first round of the NCAA Division III Singles Championship on Friday, May 28 at the Battleground Tennis Complex. Pairings for the singles bracket were released on Thursday, with Liz Lewis from Chapman University (Calif.) receiving the #1 seed.

Agarycheva enters the national championship bracket with a 20-3 overall record. She is ranked #4 in the West Region in singles. Agarycheva was chosen Northwest Conference Player of the Year and earned a 14-1 record against NWC opponents during the regular season.

The winner of the match between Agarycheva and Browne will take on the winner between Courtney Chin of Carnegie-Mellon University (Pa.) and Janelle Arita of DePauw University (Ind.) in the second round. All of the first round and second round matches will be played on Friday.

A total of 32 athletes are competing for the NCAA Division III singles title with action continuing through Sunday, May 30. The University of Mary Washington (Va.) is hosting the championship.