ROME, Ga. - Following a thrilling 5-4 victory over Rhode Island College, in the Little East Conference title match on Saturday, the Western Connecticut State University men's tennis team learned on Monday that it will face John Carroll University in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships on either Thursday or Friday, May 13 or 14 at the Rome Commission/Berry College in northwest George.
The Colonials will be making its second NCAA appearance. They captured the LEC crown in 2010 and, along with their women's program, made its only showing in the national tournament.
WestConn enters with a 7-2 record as the automatic qualifier from the Little East Conference. John Carroll carries in a perfect 7-0 record, fresh off a down-to-the-wire 5-4 win in the tournament final. Â
The winner will advance to play 5-3 Emory in the Second Round. The Eagles were crowned National Champions in 2019 after the majority of the 2020 spring championships were canceled due to the COVID pandemic.Â
More information will be available on Tuesday afternoon, following a conference call at 1 pm.
FROM THE NCAA:
The NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Committee has selected the 37 teams that will compete in the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships. Student-athletes selected to the individual championships will be announced Wednesday, May 12.
The teams will play a single-elimination tournament with the first, second- and third-rounds played at predetermined sites, Friday-Sunday, May 14-16, or Thursday-Saturday, May 13-15. The University of the South and the Chattanooga Sports Commission will host the team championships finals, which will be held May 24-26 at Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The champions of the following conferences received automatic qualification:
| AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS |
|
| Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference |
Mount Aloysius (8-0) |
| American Rivers |
Luther (14-4) |
| American Southwest Conference |
Concordia University Texas (13-4) |
| Centennial Conference |
Johns Hopkins (8-0) |
| Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference |
Southern Virginia (12-5) |
| College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin |
Augustana (Illinois) (12-6) |
| Commonwealth Coast Conference |
Roger Williams (10-0) |
| Empire 8 |
Houghton (10-3) |
| Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference |
Rose-Hulman (7-3) |
| Landmark Conference |
Drew (10-0) |
| Liberty League |
Skidmore (6-1) |
| Little East Conference |
Western Connecticut State (6-2) |
| Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth |
Stevenson (8-2) |
| Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom |
Stevens Institute of Technology (11-0) |
| Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association |
Kalamazoo (9-0) |
| Midwest Conference |
Grinnell (9-0) |
| Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
Gustavus Adolphus (16-2) |
| New England Small College Athletic Conference |
Williams (6-1) |
| New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference |
Babson (6-0) |
| North Coast Athletic Conference |
Denison (10-2) |
| North Eastern Athletic Conference |
Lancaster Bible (11-1) |
| Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference |
Illinois Institute of Technology (7-0) |
| Northwest Conference |
George Fox (10-4) |
| Ohio Athletic Conference |
John Carroll (7-0) |
| Old Dominion Athletic Conference |
Washington and Lee (13-4) |
| Presidents' Athletic Conference |
Grove City (8-2) |
| Skyline Conference |
Farmingdale State (6-1) |
| Southern Athletic Association |
Oglethorpe (13-1) |
| Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference |
Trinity (Texas) (14-7) |
| Upper Midwest Athletic Conference |
St. Scholastica (10-4) |
| USA South Athletic Conference |
North Carolina Wesleyan (20-2) |
The following schools, listed alphabetically, were selected to the championship from Pool B and Pool C candidates:
| POOL "B" SELECTIONS |
| Case Western Reserve (10-2) |
| Emory (5-3) |
| Washington University in St. Louis (11-1) |
| POOL "C" SELECTIONS |
| Brandeis (6-1) |
| Carnegie Mellon (9-2) |
| Southwestern (Texas) (14-2) |
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