ATHENS, Ga. ? Nearly three weeks after capturing its first Colonial Athletic Association championship, UNC Wilmington makes its NCAA tennis debut Friday at 1 p.m. against Virginia Tech's Hokies in a first-round pairing of the NCAA Tournament at the University of Georgia's impressive Dan Magill Tennis Center.
The Seahawks, ranked 59th nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), are the No. 3 seed in the Athens Regional. Host Georgia is seeded No. 1, Virginia Tech is No. 2 and South Carolina State is the No. 4 seed.
“I think there are some positives and negatives with the layoff,” said Mait DuBois, UNCW's second-year coach. “We are all well rested and healthy. The guys studied pretty hard for their finals, and now they're ready to go.
“We will continue what we have done all year. We love to compete hard and get after our opponent. We don't give anything away, and to get past us means you have to be willing to really work for it.”
UNCW and Va. Tech, rated 26th, will square off for the first time, with the winner moving on to Saturday's regional final at 4 p.m. DuBois and his young team, which consists of just one senior, are one of 31 automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Tournament after the Seahawks edged CAA favorite VCU, 4-3, in the finals of the CAA Championships in Norfolk, Va.
The Hokies, 14-7, faced 16 ranked teams and seven Top-25 opponents this spring. Tech is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and is anchored by All-ACC selection Yoann Ree and ACC Freshman-of-the-Year Luka Somen.
“Virginia Tech is a talented team that doesn't really drop off much down the lineup,” added DuBois. “They have been in the NCAA's almost every year, and I'm sure they'll be ready to play.”
The Seahawks, 19-5, knocked off Drexel, Old Dominion and No. 45 VCU in the CAA Championships and has won 10 consecutive matches. Freshman Ryan Ybarra carries a 12-match winning streak into the NCAA Tournament for UNCW, which owns a 93-48 (.660) record in singles.
DuBois hasn't decided on his doubles combinations. He expects his singles lineup to be Michael Pereira (No. 1), Gustavo Bertei (No. 2), Kinshuk Sharma (No. 3), Ryan Ybarra (No. 4), Illia Ziamtsou (No. 5) and Alex Wetherell (No. 6).
The winner of the 16 first- and second-round matches advances to the NCAA Division I Men's Championships at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M. The team championship will be held May 14-19.
The teams will play a single-elimination tournament at 16 first- and second-round sites (four teams at each site) and the finals site (16-team bracket) to determine the national champion. The matches will be regulation dual matches with three (3) eight-game, pro-set doubles played for one team point, followed by six (6) singles matches, each valued at one team point, played best of three sets. Regular scoring will be used and a 12-point tiebreaker will be played at eight games all in doubles and at six games all in singles.
