The Big Red are back in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in school history.

For the fifth straight season and the 13th time in school history, the Denison University women's soccer team is heading back to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

Denison is one of 21 teams who received an at-large bid from the NCAA after compiling a 15-3-2 record in the regular season.  The 2009 North Coast Athletic Conference regular season champions will travel to Westerville, Ohio to take on Transylvania University on Nov. 14 at 1:30 p.m.

For the second year, Otterbein College is the host site for the four-team regional.  The winner of the Denison-Transylvania match would face the winner of the Otterbein-Frostburg State match on Sunday (Nov. 15) in Westerville at 1 p.m..

The eight-member senior class led by captains Anna Rusch (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends School), Laura Kuehn (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Courtney Cobb (Sylvania, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) will be making their fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA postseason.  This senior group has helped the Big Red to a 3-3-1 record in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 2006, which includes an appearance in the NCAA's round of 16 (2006).

Rusch is tied for second on the team with nine goals and Cobb anchors a Denison defense that has allowed just eight goals and recorded 15 shutouts.  Starting on that stingy Big Red back line are seniors Julie Dean (Hamilton, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) and Kate Henderson (Denver, Colo./George Washington), junior Haley Gewehr (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck) and sophomore Angie Coderre (Flossmor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor).  Junior Kimmi Oshita (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) leads the team with 15 goals which is the most by a DU player since Dana Grandmaison's 16-goal season in 1999.  Junior Jen Clemmer (Hixson, Tenn./The Baylor School) is second on the team in points with 27 (9 goals; 9 assists).

Like last year, the first-round opponent is a familiar one for head coach Gail Murphy's squad.  Denison and Transylvania squared off at Barclay-Thomsen Field on Sept. 23 with the Big Red claiming a 2-0 victory thanks to a pair of goals by Rusch in the 7th and 53rd minutes.  This is the second NCAA Tournament bid for Transylvania University after posting a 13-6-1 record out of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. In their only other tournament appearance back in 2006, the Pioneers were eliminated by the Big Red, 2-1, in the opening round.

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