Florida Atlantic University women?s tennis team learned Wednesday it will face the University of Miami in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. It's the second NCAA appearance in the past three years for the Owls.

California and Mississippi are the other teams in the four-team regional. The tournament is made up of 64 teams playing in sixteen regionals. The Owls will face the host Hurricanes May 13 at 2:00pm at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

FAU (9-10) last played on April 17 when it defeated Stetson in the championship match of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. FAU defeated Jacksonville, UCF, and Stetson during the tournament to claim its second A-Sun title in the past three years. FAU enters the NCAA Tournament with five wins in its last six matches.

The Owls are led by senior Alena Dvorakova, the A-Sun's Player-of-the-Year. She is 22-5 on the year, including 15-3 at no. 1. For her career, she has received First-Team All-Conference honors four times and Player-of-the-Year honors twice. She is FAU's all-time Division I leader in singles (90) and doubles (67) wins.

Miami enters the regional ranked no. 9 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Cal (12-8) is no. 24, and Ole Miss (13-9) is no. 35.

FAU faced Miami February 15 in its season opener in Coral Gables. The Owls were defeated 7-0. The winner of the FAU-Miami match faces either Cal or Ole Miss May 14 at 1:00pm. The regional winner advances to the round of 16, May 19-22, in Athens, GA.

Florida Atlantic last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2003 when it faced Florida in Gainesville.

Graham Signs with men's basketball

Florida Atlantic University men's basketball coach Matt Doherty has announced that Paul Graham has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball for the Owls beginning with the 2005-06 season. Graham is a 6-4, 185 guard from Philadelphia who played at Philadelphia Lutheran Academy.

"We are thrilled that Paul Graham will be joining our family at FAU," said Coach Doherty. "He will bring terrific talent and extreme competitiveness to our program. Paul is a great fit in Boca Raton and we look forward to him being on the ground floor of something special."

Graham was named a top-100 prep star while at Philadelphia Lutheran Academy, which finished third in the nation among Prep Schools.

"I really like the coaching staff at FAU," said Graham. "I felt comfortable around them and they treated me well on my visit. The staff seems to really care about their players."

Graham is the son of former NBA player Paul Graham who played for the Atlanta Hawks from 1991-94.

Senior Pam Mazzarella became only the second player in FAU history to be named to the Atlantic Sun All-Conference first team for four consecutive years on Tuesday as the league office announced their 2005 softball regular season honors. Senior Jessica Braggins and junior Danielle Arriaga received second team honors, while Lauren Crandall was named to the All-Freshmen team.

Mazzarella is honored after a fine conference campaign that saw her finish third in batting average (.411) and second in on-base percentage (.554). The Brookfield, Connecticut native also had a superb 17 to 4 walk to strikeout ratio in A-Sun play and finished second on the Owls in average (.309), runs (33) and hits (56). She also had a career-high 44 walks during the regular season and joins Nikki Myers is the only other Owl to be named first team All-Conference for all four years of her career.

Braggins, who was also named to the second team in 2004, had undoubtedly the best season of her three-year career at FAU in 2005. The Tampa native led the Owls in average (.323), hits (60), doubles (11, tie), home runs (eight), RBI (43), total bases (97) and slugging percentage (.522) and set career highs in numerous offensive categories.

Arriaga is honored after her first year at FAU since transferring from Tennessee. The shortstop finished second on the Owls squad with six home runs and 31 RBI, despite missing eight games with an ankle injury.

Crandall, a DeLand native, is honored after a solid freshman campaign that saw the outfielder finish fourth on the Owls in RBI (18) and in a tie for fifth in home runs (two).

The Owls will look for their ninth consecutive A-Sun title this weekend as they host the six-team conference tournament that runs Thursday through Saturday at FAU Field. FAU will be the number two seed and their first game will be against #5 Stetson at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Three-day tournament passes for the event are only $20 for adults and $10 for youths and seniors, while one day passes are $10 for adults and $5 for youths and seniors on Thursday and Friday and only $5 for adults and $3 for youths and seniors on championship Saturday.

For those who are unable to attend the championship, live statistics from all games will available right here on www.fausports.com via our tournament page which can be accessed through Home Tournament Info link on the upper right of the main softball page.

All-Conference First Team
P Lindsay Enders UCF Sr.
P Jocelyn McCallum Troy So.
C Tamra Howren Troy Sr.
IF Stephanie Best UCF Sr.
IF Pam Mazzarella FAU Sr.
IF Lauren Redfern Jacksonville Sr.
IF Melissa Wiggins Stetson Jr.
OF Jenny Boyd Troy Jr.
OF Erin Mullen Belmont So.
OF Shawna Wiggs Stetson Jr.
DH/U Brittani Houghton Stetson Sr.

All-Conference Second Team
P Kacie Flinn Troy Jr.
P Elizabeth Hyman Georgia State Jr.
C Alysha Forsythe Lipscomb So.
IF Danielle Arriaga FAU Jr.
IF Meghan Clark Mercer Sr.
IF Heather Collins Lipscomb Fr.
IF Rachael Riopel Gardner-Webb Sr.
OF Jessica King Stetson Sr.
OF Kerri Ryskamp Mercer Sr.
OF Jania Shinhoster UCF Sr.
DH/U Jessica Braggins FAU Sr.

All-Conference Freshmen Team
Ashley Anderson Mercer Fr.
Lauren Caviness Campbell Fr.
Heather Collins Lipscomb Fr.
Lauren Crandall FAU Fr.
Shannon Jensen Jacksonville Fr.
Leigh Little Lipscomb Fr.
Jamie Madruga Mercer Fr.
Caurie Miller Troy Fr.
Meghan Pipken Belmont Fr.
Catherine Snapp UCF Fr.
Lindsay Wightman Stetson Fr.

A-Sun Player-of-the-Year: Stephanie Best, UCF
A-Sun Pitcher-of-the-Year: Jocelyn McCallum, Troy
A-Sun Freshman-of-the-Year: Shannon Jensen, Jacksonville
A-Sun Coach-of-the-Year: Melanie Davis, Troy

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Report courtesy of FAU Sports Information Department ? Katrina McCormack, Assistant Athletic Director SID; John McMahon, Assistant SID and Radio Play-by-Play; and Dawn Elston, Assistant SID. For more information about FAU Sports, go to the FAU web site at www.fausports.com