NCAA-Bound Netters Battle Fresno State

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PROVO, Utah (May 4, 2010) With a 21-6 record, the No. 33 BYU men’s tennis team will participate in the 2010 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships against Fresno State.

The Bulldogs (18-9) and Cougars will play in first round action on Friday, May 14 in Los Angeles on the USC campus.

“This is a great step for our program and a thrill for our team,” said BYU head coach Brad Pearce. “We will go to work starting tomorrow. I know that Fresno State is a very good program and it will be a great competitive matchup for us.”

USC (19-3), who is hosting the first and second rounds, enters the tournament as the defending national champions, and is the No. 5 seed. They will battle Marist (14-5) on Friday. The winners of the first round matches advance and play Saturday.

BYU is making its first NCAA tournament appearance since the 2001 season where it fell to California in the first round.

BYU and TCU are the only two teams from the Mountain West Conference who received an invitation to the 64-team field tournament. The Cougars, who won the conference regular season title, are one of 33 at-large teams invited while the Horned Frogs are one of 31 squads who got an automatic invite by winning the league post-season championship.

Start times for the first and second round matches will be announced later.