May 13, 2001

After enjoying its most successful regular season in school history, the University of Notre Dame softball team (51-5) will enter the 2001 NCAA Championship with the #1 seed in Region Seven. The Irish will face sixth-seeded Western Illinois at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 17. Notre Dame will then face the loser of the #3 South Carolina - #4 DePaul match up.

The Irish enter the tournament with their best-ever record (51-5) and fresh off the heels of a 33-game win streak and a 20-0 record in BIG EAST play. Notre Dame also has a history with two of the teams in its region, as the Irish knocked off South Carolina in February 18, 1-0 and swept DePaul 7-6 and 5-1 in a doubleheader March 19. "We are thrilled and excited to be a #1 seed," head coach Liz Miller said. "It is great that we will be in a region that is close enough for all of our fans to come out and support us."

The Region Seven (Iowa City, Iowa) field:

#1 Notre Dame

vs.

#6 Western Illinois

#2 Iowa

vs.

#5 Illinois State

#3 South Carolina

vs.

#4 DePaul

The other #1 seeds in the tournament are Oklahoma, Stanford, Florida State, Arizona, UCLA, LSU and Alabama. The Irish are the only #1 seed not hosting at its home field.