The University of Memphis women's team has to play the waiting game after losing in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
The No. 39 Tigers failed to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and they currently sit right on the bubble of teams who may or may not receive an at-large bid.
Memphis head coach Lee Taylor Walker is hopeful his team will be selected.
"I think we'll be a legit bubble team," he said. "We'll either be the last team in or the first out. It's going to come down to wire, and we're going to be sweating it."
Over the weekend, the No. 41 University of South Florida, who hosted the tournament, eliminated the Tigers (14-9) in Tampa, Fla., Memphis' semifinal loss came on the heels of a victory in the first round over the University of Central Florida.
The third-seeded Tigers went down early in their match against USF. They dug a hole for themselves in both singles and doubles, going down 3-0. However, the Tigers roared back on the racquets of freshmen Anki Wind and Marta Morga.
The duo of freshman recorded back-to-back wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles. Morga scored a win in straight sets at No. 4 singles. Wind did the same at No. 5, moving to a team-high 25 singles wins. Morga notched her 24th win of the season to move to 24-6 in singles.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, their comeback was short lived as senior Stefanie Mikesz went down in consecutive 7-5 sets at No. 3.
Walker said his team competed hard, but USF's play and home-court advantage proved too much to overcome.
"We were all a little disappointed in the results, but they competed hard," the seventh-year coach said. "USF played well and were on their home court. It's not like we played terrible."
Both of the U of M's wins came from freshmen, but Walker wasn't surprised to see them perform at a high level.
"They've been solid all year," he said of Wind and Morga. "We're really young, so we should be pretty good with them the next few years."
The one area Walker wants his team to improve is doubles. The Bulls took the doubles point from Memphis over the weekend, and Walker said it could've changed the whole match had the Tigers won on the doubles court.
Memphis, currently ranked 39th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, will likely fall a few spots in Tuesday afternoon's poll, according to Walker. He said the selection committee usually cuts off the at-large bids near the 42nd and 43rd ranked teams.
"I feel a lot better than two years ago when we were ranked around 50," he said.
The Tigers missed the tournament two years ago, but they were ranked much lower than this time around.
The NCAA Selection Show will be held on April 29, and Memphis will be anxiously waiting.
"We'll be doing some serious scoreboard watching," Walker said.
Walker said it all comes down to how successful the teams that have played the Tigers this season are the rest of the year.
"We'll be ecstatic if we make it in, and we'll practice our tails off," Walker said. "If not, it will give our younger players some good motivation to get back there next year."
