Wayne State University Athletics

Men's Tennis 4/24/2023 8:15:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis Selected As Second Seed In Midwest Region For NCAA Tournament

The Warriors won their second GLIAC Tournament championship in as many years to earn an automatic bid.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's tennis team (20-9 overall) will compete in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history and seventh under head coach Bryan Morrow.

The Warriors won the GLIAC Tournament Championship on Sunday (April 23) to garner an automatic bid to the tournament. They defeated top-seeded Ferris State by a score of 4-0 as the second seed. It was the team's 10th victory in a row and the triumph secured back-to-back conference titles for the squad.

Wayne State will be the No. 2 seed and will host the seventh-seeded Drury Panthers in the opening round of the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, April 28 at 11 a.m. Weather permitting the match will be held at the University of Detroit Mercy Tennis Courts.

The Warriors are hosting this section of the Midwest Regional. The format features eight teams, with four teams playing in each section. This also means that no teams receive a bye into the second day of action. In addition to the WSU-DU match-up, the No. 3 seed Southwest Baptist Bearcats will battle the No. 6 seed Grand Valley State Lakers at 3 p.m. on Friday. The winners of the Friday matches will square off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 29 for a spot in the Round of 16 at the National Championships.

In the other Midwest Regional, Indianapolis claimed the top overall seed and will host the No. 8 seed McKendree. The other match pits the No. 4 seed (Ferris State) against the No. 5 seed (TIffin). The Greyhounds finished with a 19-2 regular season record and a Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) championship.

The Warriors are looking to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament once again. In 2022, the Green and Gold emerged victorious from their section of the region, then proceeded to defeat three teams, including No. 1-seeded Columbus State, to play in the NCAA Division II Championship. WSU fell to Barry in the national championship match to finish as the national runner-up for the 2022 campaign.

The Wayne State program owns a 12-12 record all-time in NCAA Tournament action, including last year's 5-1 mark. They Warriors are making back-to-back appearances in the event and are included for the fourth time in the last five held tournaments (also competed in 2022, 2019 and 2018, with the 2020 event not held due to COVID-19).

Forty-eight (48) teams heard their name called during the selection show, shown by the NCAA on its website. Of those 48, 18 already secured their bids by winning their conference titles.

The winners of the 16 regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships, which are slated for Thursday, May 11 through Tuesday, May 16 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

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