BUIES CREEK, N.C. - The Campbell University women's tennis team will open the 2011 spring season this Friday in the VCU indoor invitational. The Lady Camels will start the tournament at 10 a.m. on Friday against Howard.

The Lady Camels return four players from the 2010 team that went 15-9 and advanced to the Atlantic Sun Semifinals for the second straight year. Lisa Sutton returns for her senior season after being named to the All-Conference first team for 2010 and leading the team in singles victories. Also returning to the team will be juniors Borislava Nikolova and Anais Gomar, along with sophomore Lourdes Ros.

Campbell also added freshman Heather Robinson and Dominek Wallaart to the roster before the fall season and most recently added newcomers Natasha Afridi and Karolina Chernaya right before the start of spring practices.

Coach David Johnson returns to lead the Lady Camels for the 13^th consecutive season, while German Perez enters his first season as assistant coach. Campbell was picked to finish fifth in the preseason A-Sun poll.

Campbell is set to participate in the event for the third straight season after going 1-1 in the previous two tournaments. The Lady Camels were knocked off by then #43 ranked VCU in the morning session but came back to defeat George Mason in last year's tournament.

The event will be played by using a 4+1 format in order to speed up play. The 4+1 signifies that each match will feature four singles matches and one doubles match. The team that wins the best of five will win the match.

After the match with Howard in the morning, Campbell will face Georgetown at 5 p.m. inside the Thalhimer Tennis Center.

Following the tournament the Lady Camels will return to action February 3 as they travel to Conway, S.C. to face Coastal Carolina. The match is set for 2 p.m.