No. 1 Bulldogs battle No. 8 Terriers in NEC Quaterfinal, Friday in the Garden State

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – First-ever No. 1 seeded Bryant University women's tennis takes on No. 8 St. Francis Brooklyn in the Northeast Conference Quarterfinals, Friday in West Windsor, N.J., playing with a chance to win back-to-back league titles, after capturing their first in program history last season.

The Bulldogs put together an 8-7 season, topping the NEC at a perfect 4-0. Under reigning NEC Coach of the Year Barbara Cilli, Bryant collected victories over second-seeded FDU, 4-3, and third-seeded Sacred Heart, 5-2, this month. The Black and Gold edged out Fairleigh Dickinson, 4-3, in a late March match in Smithfield. In a rematch of last year's championship where the Bulldogs posted a 4-0 win over LIU Brooklyn, Bryant defeated the Blackbirds, 6-1, this season in Queens.

Sophomores Stefanie Arroyo (Gurabo, Puerto Rico), Ashanti Campfield (Stratford, Conn.) and Linnea Sjoberg (Stockholm, Sweden) along with junior Marion Bouillin (San Diego, Calif.) and senior Jovana Hadzi-Tanovic (Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro) all finished with perfect records in NEC play. Arroyo and Sjoberg paired up to go 8-2 in No. 3 doubles, finishing 3-0 in conference play.

The last time the Bulldogs and Terriers met was in October 2010, where Bryant swept St. Francis Brooklyn, 7-0, in Brooklyn. This year's postseason matchup is set to begin Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the Mercer County Tennis Center.