April 25, 2007

Indianapolis, Ind. - The Mercyhurst men's tennis team earned a trip to the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships for the first time since 2005 and the Lakers will see a familiar opponent when they return to the tournament. Seeded No. 5, Mercyhurst will meet No. 4 seed Wayne State, a team Mercyhurst has played twice this year, on Friday May 4. The time is yet to be determined.

The first and second round of the 64-team tournament will be hosted by Drury University, the top seed. First and second round contests are scheduled to be played May 3-5 at 16 sites around the country.

At 14-7 on the season, Mercyhurst has split a pair of contests with Wayne State. The Lakers beat Wayne State 5-4 late in the regular season to help clinch the No. 3 seed at the GLIAC Tournament, but Wayne State defeated the Lakers 5-2 in the GLIAC Tournament Third Place match.

The Lakers will look to turn the tables on Wayne State as the two teams met in the NCAA Playoffs the last time Mercyhurst qualfied. In 2005, Mercyhurst was the No. 4 seed, but Wayne State upended the Lakers 5-4 to advance to the second round.

The winner of this year's contest will play either No. 1 seed Drury or No. 8 seed West Liberty State on Saturday, May 5. The round of 16 is slated to take place May 9, with the quarterfinals taking place the next day. The semifinals will take place May 11 and the National Championship will be contested May 12.