LAKE CHARLES – The defending Southland Conference Tournament Champion McNeese women's tennis team will begin Southland Conference Tournament play on Thursday at 10 a.m. when they square-off against Central Arkansas in an opening round match-up.

The Cowgirls (11-9, 6-5 SLC) dropped the regular season meeting against UCA (17-7. 9-2 SLC) 6-1 in Conway, Arkansas.

Before dropping a close 3-4 match to close out the regular season to Abilene Christian, the Cowgirls won four in a row to secure a spot in this year's tournament. UCA will enter the tournament riding a three-match winning streak.

For McNeese, Charoline Erlandsson will look to continue building on an already dominant season where she has gone 18-3 in singles competition.

At flight 1, the Cowgirls will have their hands full with Chunxi Xin, who was named the SLC freshman of the year and second team singles.

"We are very excited to open conference tournament play tomorrow morning," said McNeese head coach Giorgia Pozzan. "This is the most exciting time of the season, competing for a championship and a spot in the NCAA tournament. I believe we have accumulated enough experience throughout the season to be able to display our best tennis in the next three days. Everyone is out to beat us so it will be key to handle the pressure and set the tone from the moment we enter the facility."

With a victory the Cowgirls will move on to the semi-finals to play the winner out of New Orleans and Northwestern St. on Friday at 2 p.m.