TEMPE -- The Arizona State women's tennis team will make its 29th-straight NCAA tournament appearance under head coach Sheila McInerney as the second seed in the Auburn Regional, the association announced on Tuesday.
The No. 22 Sun Devils (17-5) will face No. 36 North Carolina State (15-11) in the first round on May 13 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Ala. The top-seed in the regional and host will be No. 11 Auburn (22-7), who will play Alcorn State (10-13) in the first round.
"We're very excited," said McInerney. "It's never easy getting into the tournament and it's getting harder every year. The kids are really thrilled to go to a regional with three teams we haven't seen and haven't played. We've never been to Auburn, but have heard they have a nice facility and they've had a great year. North Carolina State has certainly had a really good year (too), so we're excited to play them right off the bat.
"This time of the year is and should be really fun - a lot is at stake. The kids need to realize it's not easy making the tournament and need to just go out there, give your all and enjoy it."
The Devils are coming off their best conference finish in program history (8-2) and their first doubles championship courtesy of senior Ebony Panoho and junior Alex Osborne -- who are currently ranked No. 21 according to the ITA.
In addition, the women put together a hefty list of firsts during the 2015-16 season. In March, the Sun Devils defeated eventual-Pac-12 Champion Stanford for just the second time in program history, which would be their only conference loss of the season. About a month later, ASU knocked off then-No. 23 UCLA in Los Angeles for the first time since 2000.
At the Pac-12 Championships, the Devils won the team title -- which is awarded to the team who compiles the most singles and doubles victories in the main draw -- for the first time in program history and the first program outside of California to do so since 2003.
Focusing on ASU's first opponent, the NC State Wolfpack tallied just one top-25 victory all season, coming against then-No. 24 Syracuse in March. They went a combined 1-6 against top-25 opponents on the season.
The match is set for Friday, May 13 with times TBD.