UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 35 Penn State men's tennis team earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and will take on Monmouth on Friday, May 3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. at 10 a.m.
The Nittany Lions are making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and first since 2016. Penn State will be appearing in the tournament for the third time under eighth-year head coach Jeff Zinn.
"We are very excited to be in the NCAA tournament again," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "We felt we had the team to do it this season. We have a really tough first round opponent in Monmouth. We played them a couple of years ago and it is going to be a challenge, but we have to take it one by one."
FULL NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Penn State went 19-8 this spring, to have their most successful season since 2014. The team also went 11-1 at home.
The Nittany Lions went 8-3 in the Big Ten competition and entered the conference tournament as a No. 3 seed to tie a program-best from 2014. The team defeated then-No. 16 Michigan, 5-2, at home to highlight their Big Ten season.
Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) led the charge with a 20-4 singles record and a 10-2 conference record. He is also 10-2 over ranked opponents this season.
THE NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
Penn State will face Monmouth University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks went 18-1 this season and have not lost a match since Feb. 9 to Navy, 4-0.
The team captured its fourth-straight MAAC Conference title after sweeping Fairfield, 4-0, and Quinnipiac, 4-0, in the tournament.
The two teams last met in the 2017 season when Blue and White hosted Monmouth and earned the 7-0 sweep.
NEXT UP
Penn State will have the opportunity to advance on to the second round and face the winner of No. 16 seed Columbia and Bryant.
The Lions won their sixth-straight Ivy League title this season, going a perfect 7-0 in conference and 17-3 overall. The title marks the team's 16th overall championship and 12th outright.
Bryant earned an automatic bid to the Big Dance after securing its sixth-straight Northeast Conference Championship with a 4-0 win over Wagner. The Bulldogs went 20-10 overall and secured a perfect 6-0 record in conference.
Keep up with the Penn State men's tennis team at GoPSUsports.com. For continued updates throughout the year, make sure to `like' our Facebook page at Penn State Men's Tennis and follow our twitter @pennstateMTEN.