FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released updated national and regional rankings late Thursday night, seeing Christopher Newport move up two slots to No. 23 in the country. The second-seeded Captains will open Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against #3-seed UC Santa Cruz in a neutral site bout at Mary Washington. 

Christopher Newport, also ranked No. 6 in the Atlantic South, will take on the Banana Slugs, ranked No. 16 in the West region. The winner will advance to the C2C Championship Match scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 8, facing the winner of the other semifinal featuring top-seeded Mary Washington and either #4 Salisbury or #5 Pratt, determined Friday afternoon. 

In addition to the Captains improving in this week's rankings as a team, rookie Raine Weis held her spot at No. 3 in the Atlantic South singles poll. She established a program record with the highest ranking in program history in the last release and held her spot this week. Tessa Trate is also ranked No. 12 in the region while the two together are the fifth-ranked doubles tandem in the Atlantic South. 

Christopher Newport is the 2-seed in the tournament for the seventh straight seasons and is looking to advance to the team's seventh straight conference championship. 

This season, Weis has led the way as the C2C Athlete and Rookie of the Year with a team-high 13 wins in singles play this year. She is unbeaten since moving up to the No. 1 position for the Captains and has won seven of her last eight matches coming into this weekend's action. 

Trate also secured first team All-Conference honors after eight singles wins this year with four coming at No. 1. Kiersten Chang has started all 14 matches for CNU with a 8-6 record. 

Live stats will be available for all the action this weekend, with links found on the men's tennis schedule at CNUsports.com. A full recap and box score will be available following the action.