Men's Tennis Earns Third Straight Bid to NCAAs, Faces Philadelphia

NORTH ANDOVER, MA – For the third straight year, the Merrimack College men’s tennis team has earned a trip to the 62-team NCAA tournament after a second straight trip to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship.

The Warriors will face Philadelphia University, a team that went 19-5 during the 2009-10 season and 10-2 in the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference (CACC) before falling in the Conference finals to #11 Concordia (NY)—the top seed in the East Region.  The Warriors and Rams will square off at Queens (NY) College, the host site for the East Regional tournament, on Thursday, May 6 at 4:00pm.  Should they advance to the second round, they would play the winner of Concordia and Adelphi at 11:00am Friday morning.

For Philadelphia—like Merrimack—this year’s trip is a third overall and consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.

A year ago in the NCAAs, Merrimack advanced to the second round with a win over Adelphi University, 5-4, before falling to Concordia (NY), 5-0, in the regional final.

Said head coach Chris Stevens after learning of his team’s fate, “The guys and myself are thrilled to keep the season going and feel good our position in the regional tournament.  These guys have fought all year and it’s been a great ride.”

NCAA East Regional First Round (at Queens (NY) College - Thursday):

1 Concordia (NY) College (22-3) vs. 8 Adelphi University (9-7)

4 Philadelphia University (19-6) vs 5 Merrimack College (13-5) - 4:00 PM [May 6]

2 Queens (NY) College (17-2) vs. 7 Dowling College (8-4)

3 Bentley (16-5) vs. 6 Stonehill College (13-7)

NCAA East Regional Second Round:

Friday, May 7 - 11:00 AM