FERRIS TENNIS TEAMS GARNER NCAA-II NATIONAL TOURNEY BIDS
Bulldog Men’s & Women’s Teams 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 2005 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 28) by the NCAA-II Men’s and Women’s Tennis Committee.
The Bulldog men’s tennis team, which is currently ranked 35th overall in the latest (April 27) Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II national poll, will serve as one of two NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament sites May 5-6. FSU will host Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponent Grand Valley State Thursday, May 5, at 2 p.m. (EDT) in FSU’s Racquet and Fitness Center at Big Rapids, Mich. The other first-round match pits Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) member Southern Indiana against Shepherd (W.Va.) of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) in a 4:30 p.m. (EDT) encounter with the winners slated to meet Friday, May 6, at 2 p.m. (EDT).
The 18th-ranked FSU women’s squad will square off against league foe Wayne State Thursday (May 5) in Great Lakes Regional play with Grand Valley State slated to face Southern Indiana in the other first-round match. The women’s opening-round match between GVSU and USI is slated to begin at 9 a.m. (EDT) with the FSU-WSU contest set for a 11:30 a.m. (EDT) start. The women’s regional final will be held Friday (May 6) at 10 a.m. (EDT). In case of inclement weather, both the men’s and women’s tournament schedules would be held indoors. Admission for all matches is free and open to the public.
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 11-14 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
The national championships will be co-hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission 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 11-9 overall, will be making its eighth consecutive and 11th overall NCAA-II Regional Tournament appearance. Last season (2004), FSU defeated Wayne State 5-0 in the NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional final (May 7) held at FSU’s Racquet and Fitness Center. The victory marked Ferris’ fifth consecutive regional title and eighth overall berth in the national finals round where FSU picked up its first-ever NCAA-II Sweet Sixteen victory last campaign.
Ferris State placed second overall at the 2005 GLIAC Men’s Tennis Tournament under interim head coach Dave Ramos as a result of dropping a 5-2 decision to Northwood in the league tourney final (April 16) at the Midland Community Tennis Center. FSU, which will be hosting men’s regional action for the fourth-straight year, advanced to the conference championship match for the seventh consecutive campaign.
The 15-2 Bulldog women’s team will be making its 10th consecutive regional tournament appearance. Ferris State beat Michigan Tech 5-1 in the 2004 NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional title match (May 7) at Big Rapids. FSU has earned four regional tournament championships in the last six years to date and is making its 15th overall tournament bid. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA-II Championship round of 16 five times, including last season when they defeated Millersville (Pa.) 5-0 in Sweet Sixteen action (May 12) at Altamonte Springs.
The Bulldogs, who have currently won 192 of their last 197 league regular-season matches, placed second overall at the 2004 GLIAC Championships (Oct. 22-23) held in Midland. FSU, which is coached by Ramos, has claimed 18 league titles in the last 21 years. The women’s team previously hosted regional play in both 2002 along with 2004 and will be serving as a host site for the third time in the last four campaigns.
Ferris is presently ranked second in both the latest (April 27) women’s and men’s regional polls.
Here is the complete regional tournament schedule:
Thursday, May 5
9 a.m. - Grand Valley State vs. Southern Indiana (Women's Semifinal #1)
11:30 a.m. - Ferris State vs. Wayne State (Women's Semifinal #2)
2 p.m. - Ferris State vs. Grand Valley State (Men's Semifinal #1)
4:30 p.m. - Southern Indiana vs. Shepherd (W.Va.) (Men's Semifinal #2)
Friday, May 6
10 a.m. - Women's Final
2 p.m. - Men's Final
Click Here For Men's National Release/Bracket
Click Here For Women's National Release/Bracket
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