MEN’S TENNIS WILL TRAVEL TO STANFORD FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP

5/1/2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the ninth time in 14 years, the Sacramento State men’s tennis team will make an appearance at the NCAA Tournament, it was announced today by the selection committee.

The Hornets (11-12), who earned an automatic berth into the NCAA’s by sweeping a pair of teams in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, will travel to Stanford to take on the No. 11-seed Cardinal (17-8, 5-2 Pac 12) in the first round. The two teams will play on Saturday, May 12, at noon.

The other first-round matchup played at Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Stadium will feature 18th-ranked Texas (16-9) taking on 35th-ranked Santa Clara (21-5) on Saturday, May 12, at 9 a.m. The winners of those the two first-round matches will play for a spot in the Round of 16 on Sunday, May 13, at noon.

Sacramento State last faced Stanford on Jan. 25, 2011, when the Hornets dropped a 7-0 outcome on the road. The Hornets and Cardinal will be facing each other in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time (1999, 2002, 2009).

The Hornets will enter the NCAA Tournament as winners of three straight, and eight of their last 10 matches. The team completed the Big Sky season with a 7-1 league mark before sweeping both Eastern Washington and Montana by 4-0 scores in the Big Sky Tournament’s semifinal and championship matches, respectively.

The Hornets, who will play four freshmen in the their singles lineup like they have in every match thus far, are led by first team all-league selections Aliaksandr Malko and Marek Marksoo, as well as second team honoree Javier Millan.

Sacramento State will be making its fourth straight and ninth NCAA Tournament appearance (1999, 2001-03, 2007, 2009-12), and has won 10 Big Sky Tournament championships (1998-99, 2001-03, 2007, 2009-12) and 10 Big Sky regular season titles (1998-99, 2001-03, 2007-11).

Stanford, which is currently ranked 10th in the nation by the ITA, will be making its 34th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cardinal own a 100-17 record in NCAA Tournament postseason play, which includes winning 15 NCAA team titles. Stanford has dropped three of its last six matches heading into this year’s NCAA Tournament, but all three of those losses came against teams currently ranked among the top five in the nation.

Of Sacramento State’s eight NCAA Tournament appearances thus far, the team has lost its first round matchups at Stanford three times (1999, 2002 and 2009), UCLA twice (2001, 2010), USC (2011), Cal (2003) and Oklahoma State (2007). Sacramento State has now drawn the regional host in the first round of all nine of the team’s appearances at the NCAA Tournament.