INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Mercyhurst College gets a rematch with Kutztown University in the first round of the NCAA II Men’s Tennis Tournament, as announced today by the NCAA. The Lakers are appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2007.
The Lakers (13-11) finished as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference runners-up to Kutztown (10-4) and will face the host Golden Bears on May 6 in the second half of the Atlantic Region bracket. Joining Mercyhurst and Kutztown will be West Liberty State and Bluefield St.
The top half of the bracket boasts West Virginia Wesleyan against Charleston and Bloomsburg against Shaw.
The 16 preliminary-round tournaments will be conducted May 6-7, 7-8 or 6-8, with the winner of each preliminary-round tournament advancing to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Florida, hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission and Rollins College, May 12-15.
The championships consist of a 16-team single elimination tournament. Each of the following eight regions will conduct two preliminary-round tournaments: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.
Mercyhurst owns a trio of All-PSAC players in
Keith Whittingham,
Kyle King and
Mijo Cotic as it looks to defeat the Golden Bears for the first time in three tries this season. Guiding the Lakers will be
Ray Yost, who was recently named the PSAC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year.
Should the Lakers defeat Kutztown, they will play against the winner of the West Liberty St./Bluefield St. contest. The Lakers narrowly lost to West Liberty St., 5-4, in the final match of the season.
To view the official NCAA release the complete list of participants and brackets, please click
here.