GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – After going a perfect 6-0 in conference play, the Rutgers University-Camden Scarlet Raptors captured the North Atlantic Conference West Division* regular season championship and will now enter this week's divisional tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The two-day tournament will be held this Thursday, April 25 and Friday, April 26 at the Birchwood Tennis Club in Clarks Summit, Pa.

The team tournament will be held on Thursday, where the Scarlet Raptors will be joined by defending champion Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State Abington.  Harrisburg, looking to capture its third straight divisional title, claimed the second seed with a 4-1 conference record (11-3 overall), while Abington secured the third and final seed after going 4-2 in the NEAC (12-6 overall).  Those two squads will square off in the semifinals at 9 a.m., with the winner then taking on Rutgers-Camden (10-5 overall) at 1 p.m. 

Whichever team emerges as the West Division tournament champion on Thursday will then move on to battle the NAC East Division* tournament champion at the Tri-City Tennis Club in Latham, N.Y. on Sunday, May 5 at 11 a.m.  The winner of that match will be crowned the conference champion and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which will be held May 21-26 at Stowe Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The individual tournament will take place on Friday and will begin at 8 a.m.  The individual matches will consist of the top-four seeded student-athletes for first through sixth singles and first through third doubles, where each flight will see the No. 1 seed take on the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed take on the No. 3 seed.  The winners will move on to the championship round, while those that lose will be placed into a consolation bracket. 

The championship round will then produce six singles position champions and three doubles position champions, with those student-athletes also making up the All-Conference First Team.  The runners-up from those flights will make up the All-Conference Second Team, while the All-Conference Third Team will be made up of the winners of each flight from the consolation bracket.

To view the individual seeding, click here.

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has thirteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, Pennsylvania State University -Harrisburg, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Institute of Technology, SUNY Morrisville State College, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Hilbert College (M Lacrosse), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf & M Tennis). 

*Beginning with the 2010 season, the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) in the sport of men's and women's tennis.  The NEAC will compete as associate members of the NAC in men's tennis, while the NAC will compete as associate members of the NEAC in women's tennis.  Members from each conference will be divided into an East and West Division for each sport, with each division holding a championship and the two divisional champions then facing off to determine the conference champion. The conference winner for each sport will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. 

A complete breakdown of the NEAC/NAC tennis partnership is as follows:

Men's Tennis: NEAC members Cazenovia, Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Harrisburg and Rutgers-Camden will play as associate members of the NAC in a West Division.  The East Division will consist of NAC members Castleton, Colby-Sawyer, Green Mountain, Johnson State, Lyndon State, MCLA and Thomas.

Women's Tennis: NAC members Castleton, Colby-Sawyer, Johnson State, Lyndon State, MCLA and Thomas will play in the NEAC as associate members in the East Division.  The West Division will consist of NEAC members Cazenovia, College of St. Elizabeth, Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Harrisburg and Wells.