RICHMOND, Va. -- The University of Delaware men’s tennis team earned a No. 5 seed and the women earned a No. 6 seed in the Colonial Athletic Association Championships which will be held Apr. 16-19 at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University.

The men’s team, who’s No. 5 seeding in the tournament is its highest since the school entered the CAA in the 2001-02 season, gets a first-round bye and will face host Old Dominion, the No. 4 seed, in the first quarterfinal match on Fri., Apr. 17 at 9 a.m. The women, who earned a No. 5 seed last season and were bounced by Georgia State in the quarterfinals, will face No. 11 George Mason in the third first round match on Thurs., Apr. 16 at 2 p.m.

Both teams have advanced to or qualified for the quarterfinal round in each of the seven years they have been in the tournament, but neither has been able to advance to the semifinal round.

In the all-time series against Old Dominion, the men’s team is 1-5, with its one and only win coming in 1975. The Monarchs have earned five shutout victories since then, including its most recent 4-0 win in the 2007 CAA Tournament Quarterfinals.

The women’s team is 11-4 all-time against George Mason having won the last 11 meetings in the series including shutout victories in the last four. UD swept George mason 7-0 last week on Apr. 10. Should the Blue Hens win, they will then face No. 3 William & Mary. Delaware has faced the Tribe just once, dropping a 5-0 decision in 2006.

The Blue Hen men, who have accumulated a record of 10-4 (3-1 CAA), are led by junior Austin Longacre, their star No. 1 singles and doubles player. Longacre, who set the school record in 2007-08 for singles wins in a season with 22, is 20-5 this season. His 52 career wins are five short of a three-way tie for first on the school’s all-time career wins list.

Senior Nolan Greenberg should also give Delaware a boost having returned to singles action after nursing a wrist injury for nearly the entire Spring season up until the Hens’ match against George Mason on Apr. 10. In that match, Greenberg defeated Imran Nayeem 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.

In doubles play, Delaware has earned the point by winning two of the three doubles matches in six of its nine matches this Spring. Longacre and Greenberg are 11-5 on the year at No. 1 doubles, sophomore Chris Hincker and freshman Courtney Scott are 9-4 at No. 2 doubles (14-4 for the year), and freshman Andre Vorobyov and junior Camilo Perez are 8-1 at No. 3 doubles. Collectively, Delaware is 52-23 for the season in doubles play.

Meanwhile, the women’s team owns a 12-2 (4-1 CAA) record this season. The Blue Hens are led by junior Elena Berry and sophomore Ivana Petrich. Berry is 21-6 this year at No. 1 singles and 51-20 for her career. Petrich is 23-3 for the season and needs just one more win to tie Elly Giese (24-2 in 1998-99) for the singles wins in a season record. She is an astounding 43-6 for her career.

The Blue Hen women also feature the school’s all-time individual doubles wins leader in senior Amanda Campbell (at right). She has earned 74 doubles wins this season, eclipsing her former partner and current Assistant Tennis Coach Susan Pollack’s mark of 69. Campbell and sophomore Megan Doran also bettered Campbell and Pollack’s doubles team wins in a season mark of 23 as they have posted a record of 24-2 this season.