April 29, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team(21-5) is heading to Charlottesville, Va. for the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions will face UNC Wilmington in the first round of the regional, hosted by the University of Virginia. The Cavaliers will match up against Army in the other first round contest.
This is Penn State's sixth NCAA Tournament bid all-time and first since 2008, when they also traveled to the regional hosted by Virginia.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Jeff Zinn, will take on the Seahawks at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 10. The winner will advance to Sunday's second round match at 1 p.m. All matches will be played at the Snyder Tennis Center.
"It's always fun to go to a site, hosted by the defending national champions," said Zinn. "We're going to face a really good team in UNC Wilmington. They have won their conference the last few years and are really a program on the rise. It will be a great first round match for us and hopefully we can play as well as we have the last few weeks. I know the boys are excited and it's big step in the right direction for the program."
UNC Wilmington went 15-6 this spring and both the regular season and tournament CAA Conference Championship. They were ranked 48th in the ITA Poll on April 22.
The Seahawks are led by Rafael Aita, ranked 52nd in the singles poll. Aita and Sam Williams are ranked 81st in the doubles poll.
This will be the first ever meeting between Penn State and UNC Wilmington.
Virginia went 23-2 this spring and won the ACC title. They are the No. 4 national seed in the tournament and are the defending National Champions. Army won the Patriot League Championship and are 20-5 in dual matches.
Penn State entered the Top 25 for the first time in school history on March 25 and reached as high as No. 16 on April 8 after defeating No. 10 Illinois and No. 28 Northwestern the previous weekend.
The Nittany Lions earned 20 wins this spring for the first time in program history, topping the previous program-high win total of 19, set in 1984. Penn State also set a new program record for Big Ten wins, bettering six wins in 2007 and 2008.
Penn State set a new program mark for wins over ranked opponents with 10, topping the previous high total of 8 in 2008. Penn State also won five road matches against ranked opponents, also a program record. The Nittany Lions also finished the spring with a record of 15-0 at home.
"I'm incredibly proud of all the players on the team for what they have accomplished this year," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "It was a memorable and historic season. We have an opportunity to pursue a higher goal of ours to make the NCAA Sweet 16. I think we drew a great matchup in the first round against UNC Wilmington. We're all excited but equally determined to go as deep as we can in the tournament."
Please check back to GoPSUSports.com for more coverage of the Penn State men's tennis team. Updates are also available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
Charlottesville Regional
May 10- First Round
9 a.m.- Penn State vs. UNC Wilmington
Noon- Virginia vs. Army
May 11-Second Round
1 p.m.- First Round Winners