WILKES MEN'S TENNIS TO FACE STEVENS IN NCAA FIRST ROUND
INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- The NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Committee has selected the 43 teams that will compete in the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship. The Wilkes University men's tennis squad, fresh off its fifth consecutive Freedom Championship, will travel to host site Williams College to face Stevens Institute of Technology in the first round Friday at a time to be announced later in the week.
The teams will play a single-elimination tournament with the first, second and third rounds played at regional sites, May 11-13. Meredith College and the Town of Cary will host the team championships finals, which will be held May 21-23 at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.. Student-athletes selected to the individual championships will be announced Wednesday, May 9.
The championship provides for a 43-team tournament. Automatic qualification (AQ) is granted to 30 conference champions, which form "Pool A." Six teams are selected from true independents and schools from conferences that do not have an automatic bid for their champions (Pool B). The remaining seven teams are selected from those teams in conferences with automatic bids that did not win their conference's AQ and the remaining Pool B institutions (Pool C). The teams are geographically paired, whenever possible.
Wilkes (14-3) enters the tournament winners of its last five matches including a 5-0 victory over cross-town rival King's College in the Freedom final on Saturday. The Colonels are no stranger to the NCAA national scene having earned automatic berths the last five seasons. Last season, Wilkes fell in first round play against Ohio Northern.
Stevens (11-7) earned their way to the tournament with a 5-3 win over Ithaca College to capture the Empire 8 tournament crown. The Ducks are three-time Empire 8 champions since 2009-10.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
May 11th
8:30am -- Wilkes vs. Stevens (M)
11:00am -- Farmingdale St. vs. Drew (M)
May 12th
8:30am -- MIT vs. Wilkes (M)/Stevens winner
11:00am -- Williams vs. Farmingdale (M)/Drew winner
May 13th
12:00pm -- Men's Regional Final
