IRVING, Texas (April 13, 2015) – The No. 5-seeded FIU women's tennis team (11-7) will take on the No. 12-seeded Southern Miss Golden Eagles (8-11) at 4 p.m. ET in the first round of the 2015 Conference USA Tennis Championships in Houston, Texas.
 
The bracket, which was released on Monday, features all 14 teams, with Marshall (14-9) and Rice (13-8) earning first-round byes as the top two seeds. First-round matches are set to begin at 10 a.m. ET Thursday, while Friday's quarterfinals start at 11 a.m. ET and Saturday's semifinals kick off at 1 p.m. ET. The championship match is slated for 11 a.m. ET Sunday.
 
For complete information on this year's tournament click on the C-USA Tournament Central page.
 
Thursday's first-round contest will mark the second meeting between FIU and USM this season. The Panthers defeated the Golden Eagles, 5-2, on March 10 from the FIU Tennis Courts. On the year, FIU is 5-0 versus C-USA opponents and has won five of its last six matches. Last season, Southern Miss eliminated the Panthers, 4-2, in the first round of the 2014 C-USA Championship in Norfolk, Va. Thursday will mark the eighth meeting all-time between the two teams with FIU holding a 5-2 edge in the series history.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWTennis) for all the latest FIU women's tennis news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.