NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONS! Ferris State Headed To Sweet Sixteen In Denver

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Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's tennis team advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2005 as the Bulldogs pulled out a thrilling 5-3 victory over West Michigan rival Grand Valley State in the Midwest Regional Championship match on Tuesday (May 10) at the FSU Racquet and Fitness Center in Big Rapids.

Freshman Till von Winning pulled out the clinching victory for the Bulldogs at number two singles with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 triumph over GVSU's Zach Phillips as the Bulldogs topped the Lakers for the third time this campaign to move on to the round of 16 set for May 18-21 in Denver, Colo.

The Bulldogs, who were hosting their first NCAA postseason action in 11 years this week, jumped out to a 2-1 lead following doubles play against the region's third-ranked Lakers. However, GVSU stormed back by splitting two of the first four completed singles matches to keep the match close down to the wire.

In doubles play, FSU's top pairing of Vasil Surduk and Nur Adim Ramdani Iswan pulled out a 8-6 victory over Phillips and Alex van de Steenoven of GVSU. The Bulldogs also scored an 8-5 triumph at second doubles where von Winning teamed up with Daniil Tarantinov to notch a win. GVSU's Andrew Bole and Nicholas Urban, though, topped the Bulldog tandem of Alex Brown and Steward Sell 8-6 at third doubles as FSU led by only a point in the team score heading into singles action.

The Lakers fought back in the singles round with Sebastien Lescoulie and Urban scoring straight-set wins at the three and six flights, respectively. But, the Bulldogs received a 6-3, 6-2 win from Sell at fourth singles and Surduk led the charge by battling back to pull out a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Steenoven at the top flight.

The match came down to the second and fifth flights. Both were squared up at a set apiece after two frames and went to the clinching tiebreaker. Von Winning finally pulled out a 7-5 win at the second flight, leading to a Bulldog celebration on their home surface.

Ferris State, which is making its 20th all-time NCAA Tournament bid, improved to 23-4 overall this campaign while GVSU saw its season come to an end at 17-8 on the year. The Bulldogs previously beat Lewis (Ill.) 5-0 in the opening round of the regional on Monday to advance to the title match.

FSU, seeded second in the Midwest Region, hosted one of the two Midwest Regional Tourneys with the champions of each both advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. Along with Ferris State, Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Champion Indianapolis was also chosen to host the other Midwest Regional bracket and came out the other side.

Ferris State will advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in school history, but the first time since 2005. FSU will face East Regional Champion Concordia (N.Y.) in the Sweet Sixteen on Wednesday, May 18, at 4 p.m. (ET) in Denver, Colo.

Along with capturing the Midwest Regional crown, Ferris State also won the GLIAC's outright regular-season title this season for the second-striaght year. The 2016 campaign represented the first-time ever in which FSU had won both the GLIAC Regular-Season & Tournament Championships in the same year since the tournament moved to its current dual team format. 

This year also marks the first time in which Ferris State claimed the GLIAC Tournament Championship since 2012. It was also only the second league postseason crown in the last 16 years as the 2012 crown was FSU's first since 1999.

With this year's championships, the men's tennis squad became the fifth FSU team to win a conference title this season, joining football, volleyball, men's basketball and hockey teams. The squad is also the fourth of the group to repeat as back-to-back champions this year in the regular-season and the fourth to claim a league postseason tournament crown.

The Bulldogs are currently ranked 35th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Rankings.

Below are the complete match results:

#35 Ferris State 5, Grand Valley State 3
May 10, 2016 at Big Rapids, Mich. (FSU Racquet & Fitness Center)