GLIAC Champion Ferris State Heads Into League Men's Tennis Tourney As #1 Seed
Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's tennis team will enter the 2015 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament this weekend in Midland as the number one overall seed after claiming the league's regular-season crown.
FSU, which won its first outright conference regular-season championship since 1994 this year, has received a first-round bye and will square off against either fourth-seeded Wayne State or fifth-seeded Tiffin on Saturday (April 25) at 3:45 p.m. (ET).
The six-team league tournament will be held at the Midland Community Tennis Center beginning on Friday (April 24). The other first-round matchup will pit third-seeded Northwood against number six seed Findlay with the winner advancing to face second-seeded Grand Valley State on Saturday in the semifinals.
The title match in the conference tournament takes place Sunday (April 26) starting at 8:15 a.m. (ET). A third-place match will also be contested. FSU and GVSU received the only first-round byes for the event.
Prior to this year, Northwood had won the last 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 Regular-Season Championship 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 currently ranked third in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Rankings, own a 16-5 overall record and were a perfect 9-0 in regular-season action.
FSU beat both Wayne State and Tiffin in the regular season by scores of 8-1 and 9-0, respectively. The Bulldogs' closest regular-season league match against teams advancing to the league tournament came against both GVSU and NU by identical 6-3 scores.
Three years ago, in 2012, Ferris State claimed its first GLIAC Tournament Championship since 1999 with a stunning 5-4 triumph over Northwood in the title match. FSU previously finished as the runner-up to Northwood seven consecutive seasons from 2000-06 and then placed fifth in 2006-07, fourth in 2007-08 and were third overall in 2008-09 before also finishing third in 2010-11. NU most recently topped the Bulldogs 5-2 in the 2013 GLIAC Tourney title match before FSU took fourth place in 2014.
The GLIAC Tournament represents the Bulldogs' final competition until an expected berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament. The NCAA Division II men's tennis selection show is Tuesday, April 29, at 8:30 p.m. (ET) with a live stream of the selection show available at NCAA.com. FSU will also hold a live selection show watch gathering at the Wheeler Pavilion on the FSU campus starting prior to the women's selection show at 8 p.m. (ET).
For more information on the GLIAC Tournament, please visit this link:
GLIAC Championship Central