GLIAC Champion Ferris State Men's Tennis Earns 22nd NCAA Tournament Berth
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Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's tennis team has been selected to compete in the 2018 NCAA Division II Tournament as the Bulldog squad received an official bid via a live selection announcement on Tuesday (April 24) evening.
The NCAA Division II National Men's & 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 Buffalo Wild Wings in Big Rapids.
The Bulldog men's team will make its 22nd all-time NCAA Tourney appearance and is guided by first-year head coach Daniel Hangstefer. FSU earned the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (GLIAC) automatic qualifying spot.
The FSU men's squad drew the number three seed in the Midwest Region and will travel next week to Springfield, Mo. FSU will face sixth-seeded Northwood in one of two Midwest Regional events on Monday (April 30) on the campus of Drury University. Match time is set for 11 a.m. (ET).
Drury will host the Midwest Regional #2 bracket and face seventh-seeded Grand Valley State also starting at 11 a.m. (ET) on Monday. The regional final will pit the two winners on Tuesday (May 1) starting at 4 p.m. (ET).
The winner of the four-team event on the men's side will move on to the NCAA-II round of 16 set for May 9-12 in Surprise, Ariz.
Along with Drury, Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Champion Indianapolis was also chosen to host the other Midwest Regional bracket with the winner of the Midwest Region #1 event also moving on to the D2 Sweet Sixteen.
The 2018 campaign represents the third consecutive year in which FSU has won both the GLIAC Regular-Season & Tournament Championships in the same year. The Bulldogs did so for the first time since the tournament moved to its current dual team format in 2016 before repeating the feat the last two years. FSU last won both in the same campaign in 1994 prior to the current stretch, but the tourney was structured then in an individual-based scoring format.
This year also marks the third-straight time in which Ferris State claimed the GLIAC Tournament Championship. It is also only the fourth league postseason crown in the last 18 years as the 2012 crown was FSU's first since 1999 prior to the 2016-18 seasons.
This season, Ferris State also won the GLIAC's outright regular-season title for the fourth-straight year. Prior to the last four years, Northwood had won the previous 20 regular-season crowns in a row dating back to 1995, including a share of the title with FSU in 1999. Either Northwood or Ferris State have won the GLIAC Championship in the regular season every year since 1982. The two schools shared the crown in 1982 before FSU had a 12-year run as the outright champion prior to the NU stretch.
The Bulldogs, who are ranked 20th nationally in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Rankings, own a 20-2 overall record and were a perfect 8-0 in regular-season action. FSU has won its last 17 matches in a row to date this year.
Earlier this year, the Bulldogs beat Northwood 7-2 in GLIAC regular-season action.
Two years ago, Ferris State made its deepest NCAA Tournament run ever by reaching the Division II Final Four in Denver, Colo. The Bulldogs then made another strong run a year ago by reaching the D2 Elite Eight.
MIDWEST REGIONAL DRAW
at Springfield, Mo.
Monday, April 30
#2 Drury vs. #7 Grand Valley State, 11 a.m. ET
#3 Ferris State vs. #6 Northwood, 11 a.m. ET
Tuesday, May 1
Regional Final, 4 p.m. ET