Presbyterian, Tusculum, Catawba Earn Bids To NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament
INDIANAPOLIS -- Three South Atlantic Conference men's tennis teams will compete in the 2007 NCAA Division II Tournament, as the NCAA announced the field of participants.
Presbyterian College earned the South Atlantic Conference's automatic bid as the champion of the 2007 Food Lion SAC Men's Tennis Tournament. Tusculum College and Catawba College earned at-large berths.
The 2007 South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament
champions, the PC men will travel to Barry College in Miami Shores,
Fla. to face off against Rollins College, who lost in the
championship game of
the Sunshine State Conference.
The Blue Hose are the sixth seed in the region, while the Tars
are the third seed in the Southeast Region II Tournament. The
Buccaneers of Barry are the second seed in the region and will play
seventh-seeded
Tusculum, who PC defeated 5-0 in the 2007 Food Lion SAC Tournament,
in the first round.
Catawba will travel to Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., to face the 10th-ranked Fighting Knights, the top seed. Catawba (19-6) is led by SAC Men's Tennis Player of the Year Jose Velazquez.
The Pioneers (15-6) will open first round action at No. 11 Barry University (13-2) in Miami Shores, Fla. Day and time of the match have yet to be announced.
Tusculum will be making its fifth NCAA postseason appearance since 2002 and the match with Barry will mark the third time that the Pioneers and Buccaneers have met in the opening round (2004, 2005).
Head coach Tommy Arnett has led the Pioneers to the NCAA Tournament in five of his six seasons at the Greeneville, Tenn. school. During his watch, the Tusculum men have posted an 85-39 record and are currently ranked No. 39 in the nation in NCAA II.
Tusculum is led by the All-South Atlantic Conference duo of Sergio Espinosa and Carlos Garcia. Espinosa, a three-time All-SAC selection, has posted a 14-5 singles record and is currently ranked No. 15 in the NCAA Southeast Region. Garcia, a three-time All-Conference honoree, has posted a season of perfection, as he is 18-0 in singles play this year.
The Venezuelan duo is 16-5 in doubles and is the eighth-ranked pairing in the region.
The winner of the Tusculum/Barry match will face either Rollins College or Presbyterian College in the second round.
The 16 first- and second-round tournaments will be conducted May
3-4 or 4-5, with the winner of each first- and second-round
tournament advancing to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Florida,
with the Central
Florida Commission and Rollins College serving as co-hosts, May
9-12.