Tusculum, Mars Hill, Newberry To Compete In NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship Tournament

April 30, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS -- South Atlantic Conference regular-season and tournament champion Tusculum College, as well as Mars Hill College and Newberry College, will compete in the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship Tournament. Tusculum will play in the Southeast Regional hosted by Barry College in Miami Shores, Fla., while Newberry and Mars Hill will play in the Southeast Regional hosted by Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.

Tusculum

The 35th-ranked Tusculum College men's tennis team will open the national postseason, Thursday, May 8 when the Pioneers face No. 9 Rollins College in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Division II Tournament. Thursday's Southeast Regional match will begin at noon at the Buccaneer Tennis Center and hosted by Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla. TC will be the No. 5 seed in the regional, while Rollins is the No. 4 seed.

The Pioneers (20-1) will be making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth in the last seven years. Tusculum earned an automatic berth by winning the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament. TC also captured the SAC regular season title, establishing a new school record for most wins in a season (20).

Rollins (15-7) earned an at-large bid to the NCAA postseason as the Tars finished fourth in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament. This will mark the second time TC and Rollins have met in the NCAA Tournament. The Tars defeated the Pioneers in the opening round of the 2003 event, which was played at Rollins.

The winner of the Tusculum/Rollins match will face No. 5 Barry or No. 40 Palm Beach Atlantic State University (17-7) in the second round on Friday, May 9 at 2 p.m. The second round winners will advance to the NCAA II National Championship Festival in Houston, Texas (May 14-17).

NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Southeast Regional
Miami Shores, Fla.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
9:30 a.m. - No. 1 Barry vs. No. 8 Palm Beach Atlantic
Noon - No. 4 Rollins vs. No. 5 Tusculum

Friday, May 9, 2008
2 p.m. - Barrry/Palm Beach Atlantic winner vs. Tusculum/Rollins winner

Mars Hill

The Lions' men's tennis team has qualified for the 2008 NCAA Tournament. MHC finished second in the South Atlantic Conference regular season standings with a league record of 6-1. The Lions enjoyed a 13-5 overall mark.

The Lions will travel to Boca Raton, FL to face No. 14 Florida Southern University in the Southeast Regional. The winner will face either SAC rival Newberry College or No. 6 Lynn University, the defending NCAA D-II National Champion.

The 16 first- and second-round tournaments will be conducted May 8-9 or 9-10, with the winner of each first- and second-round tournament advancing to the finals in Houston, Texas, with the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority and Rice University serving as co-hosts, May 14-17.

Newberry

The Newberry College men's tennis team has qualified for the NCAA as the seventh seed in the Southeast Region, it was announced today. The Indians (10-7 overall) have reached the postseason for the first time since joining the NCAA in 1992.

The Indians will travel to Boca Raton, Fla., to take on the second-seeded Lynn University Knights, who are ranked sixth in the latest ITA national rankings and are the defending NCAA Division II Men's Tennis National Champions.

Newberry made history in men's tennis this season, earning its most South Atlantic Conference victories ever as well as advancing to the SAC Tournament Finals for the first time. The winner of the Newberry/Lynn match will face No. 14 Florida Southern or Mars Hill on the day following the first-round match. The second round winners will advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship Festival in Houston, Texas, which will be held May 14-17.

The championships consist of a 16-team single elimination tournament. Each of the following eight regions will conduct two first- and second-round tournaments: East, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, South, Great Lakes, Central, North Central and West. The selection of teams for the championships is based on prescribed criteria listed in the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis Championships Handbook and approved by the NCAA Division II Championships Committee.

Download complete bracket here