Ferris State Men's Tennis Advances To NCAA Midwest Regional Final By Topping Southern Indiana

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's tennis team kept its season alive as the Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional final with a 5-2 triumph over Southern Indiana in the first round of the national tournament on Saturday (May 2) at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs, who are ranked 31st nationally, topped the fifth-seeded and 32nd-ranked Screaming Eagles in convincing fashion to move into Sunday's (May 3) four-team regional title match against host and top-seeded Drury (Mo.).

In Saturday's victory, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-1 lead following the doubles round thanks to wins at both the first and second flights in the lineup. Seniors Laurent Galarneau and Aaron Dial recorded an 8-6 triumph at the number one spot with Vasil Surduk and Tyler Bridges teaming up for an 8-4 win at the second flight.

Ferris State then sealed the win by taking three of the first four completed singles positions. Galarneau was a winner at the number one spot over nationally 37th-ranked Jack Joyce with Surduk and Roger Hernandez-Pena recording straight-set wins at the second and third flights, respectively. Surduk completed the match for the Bulldogs as FSU topped USI.

The Bulldog men's squad men's team, under third-year head coach Chad Berryhill, is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in two years and its 19th overall trip to the NCAA's. The Bulldog women's team also advanced to the national tournament for the 20th time in school history, but fell to Indianapolis in the opening round by a 5-0 count.

The Bulldog men's team won this year's GLIAC Regular-Season Championship and finished as the runner-up in the league postseason tournament. This year's regular-season title marked FSU's first outright crown since 1994 and first regular-season championship since sharing the title in 1999. The Bulldog men are now 18-6 overall and were a perfect 9-0 in regular-season action. This year represents the 16th time in the last 18 seasons in which FSU has advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the Bulldogs also reached the regional final in their last appearance back in 2013.

Ferris State and host Drury will square off in Sunday's regional title match starting at 1 p.m. (ET) in Springfield. The winner will advance to the NCAA-II Sweet Sixteen set for May 13-16 in Surprise, Ariz.

Below are the complete match results:

#31 Ferris State 5, #32 Southern Indiana 2
May 2, 2015 at Springfield, MO (Cooper Tennis Complex)