FERRIS TENNIS TEAMS GARNER NCAA-II NATIONAL TOURNEY BIDS
Bulldog Men’s & Women’s Teams Selected To Host Tournament’s Opening Two Rounds
 The Ferris State University men’s and women’s tennis teams have both been selected to participate in the 2004 NCAA Division II Championships and host first and second round regional action in the championship tournament. The 64 selected teams along with the 16 first and second-round regional sites were announced Thursday (April 29) by the NCAA-II Men’s and Women’s Tennis Committee.
The Bulldog men’s tennis team, which is currently ranked 28th overall in the latest (April 29) Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II national poll, will serve as one of two NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament sites May 6-7. FSU will host Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponent Mercyhurst Thursday, May 6, at 12 p.m. (EDT) in FSU’s Racquet and Fitness Center at Big Rapids, Mich. The other first-round match pits Wayne State against Lake Superior State in a 9 a.m. (EDT) encounter with the winners slated to meet Friday, May 7, at 10 a.m. (EDT).
The 20th-ranked FSU women’s squad will square off against West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) champion Shepherd (W.Va.) Thursday (May 6) in Great Lakes Regional play with Mercyhurst slated to face Michigan Tech in the other first-round match. The women’s opening-round match between Mercyhurst and Michigan Tech is slated to begin at 9 a.m. (EDT) with the FSU-Shepherd contest set for a 12 p.m. (EDT) start. The women’s regional final will also be held Friday (May 9) at 10 a.m. (EDT). In case of inclement weather, both the men’s and women’s tournament schedules would be revised and held indoors.
Each of the following eight regions will conduct two first and second-round regional tournaments: East, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, South, Great Lakes, Central, North Central and West. In addition to Ferris State, both the Northwood men’s and women’s teams also were selected to host Great Lakes Regional play with both tournaments taking place in Midland, Mich. Sixteen men’s and women’s regional tournaments will be held with the winner of each advancing into the 16-team single-elimination national championship field slated for May 12-15 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla. The championships are part of the NCAA Division II National Championships Festival, which will feature six Division II championships.
The national championships will be co-hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission, Rollins College and the Sunshine State Conference. The selections of teams for the championship was based on prescribed criteria listed in the NCAA-II Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships Handbook and approved by the NCAA-II Championships Committee.
The Ferris State men’s team, presently 15-8 overall, will be making its seventh consecutive and 10th overall NCAA-II Regional Tournament appearance. Last season (2003), FSU defeated Wayne State 5-2 in the NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional final (May 3) held at FSU’s Racquet and Fitness Center. The victory marked Ferris’ fourth consecutive regional title and seventh overall berth in the national finals round where FSU lost a 5-1 opening-round match (May 8) to Drury (Mo.).
Ferris State placed second overall at the 2004 GLIAC Men’s Tennis Tournament under second-year head coach Kevin Brandalik as a result of dropping a 5-1 decision to Northwood in the league tourney final (April 17) at the Midland Community Tennis Center. FSU, which will be hosting men’s regional action for the third-straight year, advanced to the conference championship match for the sixth consecutive campaign.
The 15-7 Bulldog women’s team will be making its ninth consecutive regional tournament appearance. Ferris State fell to Northwood 5-0 in the 2003 NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional title match (May 2) at Midland. FSU has earned three regional tournament championships in the last five years to date and is making its 14th overall tournament bid. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA-II Championship round of 16 four times with their last appearance coming during the 2000-01 campaign.
The Bulldogs, who have currently won 183 of their last 187 league regular-season matches, placed second overall at the 2003 GLIAC Championships (Oct. 24-25) held in Midland. FSU, which is coached by fourth-year head coach Dave Ramos, has claimed 18 league titles in the last 20 years. The women’s team previously hosted regional play in 2002 and will be serving as a host site for the second time in the last three campaigns.
Ferris is presently ranked first and second in the latest (April 29) women’s and men’s regional polls, respectively.
Click Here For Men's Regional Bracket PDF
Click Here For Women's Regional Bracket PDF
Click Here For Men's National Release/Bracket
Click Here For Women's National Release/Bracket
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