MEN’S TENNIS DRAWS NO. 9 UCLA IN FIRST ROUND OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
5/4/2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the seventh time in 12 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 (17-11), who earned an automatic berth into the NCAA’s by sweeping a pair of teams in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, will travel to Los Angeles to take on ninth-ranked and No. 9 seed UCLA (14-6) in the first round. The Hornets and Bruins will play on Saturday, May 15, at noon.
The other first-round matchup played at the Los Angeles Tennis Center will feature 17th-ranked Cal (12-7) and 57th-ranked UC Irvine (17-11) playing on Saturday, May 15, at 9 a.m. The winners of those the two first-round matches will play Sunday, May 16, at 1 p.m. for a spot in the Round of 16. Sacramento State has yet to face UCLA, Cal or UC Irvine this season.
Sacramento State enters the tournament as winners of 11 of its last 15 matches. The team completed a 7-1 season in Big Sky play, and posted 4-0 victories in both their semifinal and championship matches at the league’s postseason tournament two weekends ago. Sacramento State will be making its second straight and seventh NCAA Tournament appearance (1999, 2001-03, 2007, 2009-10) and has won eight Big Sky Tournament championships (1998-99, 2001-03, 2007, 2009-10) and 10 Big Sky regular season titles (1998-99, 2001-03, 2006-10).
This year will mark the second time the Hornets have faced UCLA in the first round of the tournament as the two teams played in Los Angeles in 2001 with the Bruins claiming a 4-0 victory. In Sacramento State’s other NCAA Tournament appearances, the team has lost its first round matchups at Stanford three times (1999, 2002 and 2009), Cal (2003) and Oklahoma State (2007). Sacramento State has now drawn the regional host in the first round of all seven of the team’s appearances at the NCAA Tournament.
The 16 national seeds on this year’s men’s side are as follows: No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 USC, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 Baylor, No. 8 Stanford, No. 9 UCLA, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 11 Georgia, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13 Illinois, No. 14 Texas Tech, No. 15 Louisville and No. 16 Duke.
All first and second round matches (May 14-16) are played on campus sites, and the final 16 teams will play at the NCAA Championships (hosted by the University of Georgia) beginning on May 21.
REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Saturday, May 15
UC Irvine vs. Cal - 9:00 a.m. (men)
(9) UCLA vs. Sacramento State - Noon (men)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the seventh time in 12 years, the Sacramento State men’s tennis team will make an appearance at the NCAA Tournament, it was announced today by the selection committee.
