May 7, 2024

Both Ferris State tennis teams selected for NCAA DII tournament

The Ferris State University men's and women's tennis teams are both headed to the NCAA Division II Tournament as the two Bulldog squads received bids via a live selection announcement on Monday.

The NCAA Division II National Men's and Women's selection committees released the respective fields for the national tournaments via NCAA.com with the Bulldogs holding a live selection show watch gathering at the Ewigleben Sports Complex.

The Bulldog women's team received its 22nd all-time national tournament bid and its first since 2021. The men's team earned its ninth consecutive berth and will make its 27th all-time NCAA Tourney appearance. Both teams are guided by head coach Mark Doren.

On the women's side, Ferris State is seeded sixth in the Midwest Region and will square off against third-seeded Wayne State in first-round action at 2 p.m. on May 10 in Tiffin, Ohio.

Tiffin University was chosen to host one of the two Midwest Region brackets with the winner of the opening round matchup squaring off against either second-seeded TU or seventh-seeded Northwood at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11 for the right to move on to the DII Sweet Sixteen set for May 20-25 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Meanwhile, the Ferris State men's squad drew the second seed in the Midwest Region and will face seventh-seeded rival Grand Valley State University in first round action at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 13.

Ferris State was chosen to host one of two regional men's brackets and will take the court in the first regional matchup. On the other side of the Midwest Region bracket in Big Rapids, third-seeded Wayne State will face sixth-seeded Tiffin at 2 p.m. and the winners will then meet in the bracket final Tuesday at 10 a.m. The winner of the four-team event on the men's side will also move on to the NCAA-II round of 16 in Florida.

The Bulldogs will host NCAA Regional men's action in Big Rapids for the first time since the 2016-17 season. The matches are slated to be played outdoors at the Big Rapids High School courts if the weather permits. If the matches are moved indoors, they will take place at the Ferris State Racquet and Fitness Center.

The Bulldog men's team won this year's GLIAC Regular-Season Championship along with the league postseason tournament title. This year's regular-season title marked Ferris State’s 22nd all-time crown and the Bulldogs captured their first conference tournament championship in three years. The Bulldog men are 17-4 overall and were a perfect 6-0 in GLIAC regular-season action.

The Ferris State women's team owns a 12-9 overall record this season and has won eight of its last 10 outings overall. The Bulldogs finished as the league regular-season runner-up and reached the semifinals at the conference tournament. This year's appearance in the NCAA Tournament is only the third berth for the women's program in the past 13 years.