All season, the Georgetown men’s and women’s tennis teams have been preparing for the Big East tournament, which got underway yesterday in Tampa, Fla. The women’s squad (16-5, 5-2 Big East) won their first-round match with ease yesterday, defeating Seton Hall (7-15, 3-6 Big East), 4-0. The men’s team has a date with Louisville this morning at 9 a.m.

The fifth-seeded women had a strong start, sweeping the doubles point. Sophomore Tina Tehrani and junior VickySekely routed their counterparts, 8-1, at No. 2 doubles, and freshman Sophie Panarese’s and sophomore Madeline Jaeger turned in an 8-2 win at No. 3.

The Hoyas kept the momentum going in singles, winning three straight matches to seal a 4-0 win over the Pirates. At No. 3, Sekely downed her opponent, 6-1, 6-1. Tehrani won her No. 2 match, 6-1, 6-0, and Jaeger’s 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 5 clinched the match.

Because the Blue and Gray had sealed the match,Panarese and sophomore Kelly Comolli, playing No. 6 and No. 4 singles, respectively, did not finish their matches, although both players had already won their first sets. Senior captain Lauren Greco trailed, 6-2, 5-1, when play in her match stopped.

The Hoyas will advance to play No. 4 seed DePaul today at noon. The Blue Demons (14-7, 5-2 Big East), ranked No. 69 in the nation, earned a bye in the first round of the tournament. Georgetown and DePaul did not go head-to-head during the regular season, but results against shared opponents indicate today’s match should be a close one: Both teams beat Connecticut during the regular season and lost to South Florida.

The men’s team (14-7, 2-1 Big East) enters the tournament on a roll, having won six of their last seven contests and coming off a big win over rival Villanova in the regular season finale. They are slated to kick tournament play off against No. 2 Louisville (16-8, 0-1 Big East) today at 9 a.m. The Cardinals boast an impressive out-of-conference record, but dropped their only Big East game against Notre Dame.

Should the Hoyas win, they would play the winner of St. John’s-Marquette on Saturday at noon.