SAN ANTONIO – No. 16 Trinity University Women's Tennis will open the spring slate Friday with a two-day trip to Abilene, Texas for visits to Hardin-Simmons University (Jan. 27) and NCAA I Abilene Christian University (Jan. 28).
 
The Tigers wrapped up the fall individual season with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southwest Regional Doubles Championship in hand as the pair of junior Cate Cushing (Colleyville, Texas / Heritage) and first-year Trinity Levy (Camarillo, Calif. / Weil Tennis Academy) defeated sophomore teammates Ruth Hill (Abilene, Texas / Abilene) and Olivia Kim (Phoenix, Ariz. / Desert Mountain) in the All-Trinity finale in the San Antonio event.
 
NCAA III Rankings: ITA Preseason Rankings Reflect Competitive 2023 Schedule
 
Both of Trinity's regional-finalist doubles squads earned national rankings from the ITA upon completion of fall competition as Cushing and Levy checked in at 16^th as the fourth-ranked duo in the West Region, followed by Hill and Kim at 25^th and seventh in the region. In addition, Levy and Hill rank 28^th and 45^th, respectively, as singles players.
 
The ITA also announced its preseason national rankings earlier in January with the Tigers squarely in the hunt as the fourth-ranked squad in the West Region, 16^th in NCAA III. No strangers to competitive schedules, Trinity will battle eight other programs listed in the preseason poll:

• No. 2 University of Chicago (March 15; San Antonio)
• No. 14 University of Mary Washington (March 18; Fredericksburg, Va.)
• No. 18 Washington University in St. Louis (April 14; St. Louis, Mo.)
• No. 20 Southwestern University (April 7; Georgetown, Texas)
• No. 21 Washington & Lee University (March 19; Fredericksburg, Va.)
• No. 22 Colby College (March 24; San Antonio)
• No. 24 University of Texas-Dallas (April 2; San Antonio)
• No. 25 Johns Hopkins University (March 23; San Antonio)

 
On top of its stiff schedule, Trinity will contend with a strong West Region in 2023 as six programs sit in the top 20 of the preseason rankings including the 16^th-ranked Tigers and 20^th-ranked Pirates: reigning NCAA III champion No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (CA), No. 4 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (CA), No. 15 University of Redlands (CA) and No. 19 California Institute of Technology.
 
Preview: Hardin-Simmons and Abilene Christian
 
On the Cowgirls: Hardin-Simmons will look to keep its momentum from last year's American Southwest Conference Championship appearance and build upon its 13-8 overall record from 2022. Since the 2010 season, Trinity is 13-0 against the Cowgirls with nine shutout victories over that span.
 
On the Wildcats: Abilene Christian will host Trinity with three matches under its belt already in 2023 having made unsuccessful trips to Southern Methodist University and Texas Tech University on either side of a 4-3 victory over another Alamo City program: University of Texas-San Antonio. Trinity has not faced the Wildcats since a 6-1 loss in 2015 after matchups in three straight seasons.
 
Looking Ahead
 
After this weekend's northbound trip, No. 16 Trinity Women's Tennis will open the 2023 home schedule Friday, February 3 with Our Lady of the Lake University for a 3:00 p.m. first serve at the Butch Newman Tennis Center, the first of seven straight in San Antonio.