TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – For the first time since 2015 the Alabama women's tennis team is returning to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships after earning a No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional. The Crimson Tide (18-11) will take on No. 2 seed UCF (22-3) for the second time this season, at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center in Tallahassee, Fla., while No. 1 seed and host Florida State (20-6) will play No. 4 seed South Alabama (22-4).

The tournament birth is the 15th in program history after the Tide went 18-11 on the year with four wins over nationally-ranked foes. UA is one of nine Southeastern Conference teams to punch its ticket in this year's field of 64. Alabama and UCF played earlier this year on Feb. 15 with the then-ranked No. 21 Knights taking the 6-1 decision in Tuscaloosa.

"I think the strength of the SEC schedule really helps you prepare for the postseason " head coach Jenny Mainz said. "The NCAA Tournament is a new opportunity, it's a new season where everyone starts at 0-0. UCF is a very good team and they are very well coached, and they have a deep team. We played them earlier in the year on February 15, so we know them and we've seen them, but we're also a completely different team than we were back in February."

The winners of each match on Friday will advance to the finals of the regional and play at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 4. FSU is a No. 11 overall seed with the winner of its regional advancing to take on the winner of the Malibu Regional.

The regional rounds will be held at campus sites with Super Regional action beginning the following week at campus sites from May 11-12. The 2019 championships will be conducted May 16-25 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The women's team semifinals and title match are scheduled for May 18 and 19, respectively.

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaWTN on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaWTN on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.