May 3, 2011

Contact: Greg Murphy

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CLEVELAND, Ohio - For the third consecutive season, the Cleveland State men's tennis team will travel to Kentucky for a first round match in the NCAA Championship.

The official announcment was made on Tuesday afternoon on ncaasports.com when the entire 64 team field was released.

The match will be played on Friday (May 13) at 3:00 p.m.

Louisville will play Cornell in the other first round match at Kentucky at 12:00 p.m. with the two winners playing a second round match on either Saturday (May 14) at 3:00 p.m.

The Vikings played at Kentucky on Feb. 13, falling, 6-1, with senior John Haley earning CSU's lone win with a victory at No. 4 singles.

"We are excited to go back and get a chance to play a very good Kentucky team in the NCAA tournament," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I feel like we have closed the gap a little bit each time we have played them, but we know that we will need everyone playing at a high level to get a win.

"I think the doubles point is going to be very crucial and if we can somehow win that, I think that will put a lot of pressure on them and give us some momentum. We know them well and I think the more times we play a team, the better we do."

The Vikings enter the tournament with a 16-7 overall record, including a perfect 7-0 in league matches. CSU defeated Green Bay, 4-1, on April 23 to capture its fourth straight Horizon League Championship.

Kentucky, seeded 10th in the tournament, enters the NCAA Championship at 26-8 overall, advancing to the SEC title match and losing to Florida, 4-0.

The championships will begin with regional action on campus sites on May 13-15 with the round of 16 beginning on May 19 at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif.