April 28, 2009

From Navy Sports Information

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's tennis team will face top-seeded and undefeated Virginia in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Tennis Tournament. That match and all pairings for the annual championship were announced Tuesday evening by the NCAA.

The match between the Mids and the Cavaliers will be played Friday, May 8 in Charlottesville, Va., at a time to be announced.

The Mids, who compiled an 18-7 overall record this year, advanced to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of winning the Patriot League Tournament for the third consecutive season. Including conference tournament matches, Navy has posted a 20-0 record against Patriot League opponents since the start of the 2007 season.

This will be Navy's third trip to the NCAA Tournament in as many years and its fourth appearance in the tournament over the last 11 seasons. The Mids lost a 4-1 decision to Mississippi in 1999 (played in Oxford, Miss.), a 4-0 match to Texas in 2007 (Austin, Texas) and a 4-0 contest to Florida in 2008 (Gainesville, Fla.).

"We are proud to once again be able to represent Navy and the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament," said Navy head coach John Officer. "The excitement of knowing `Navy' is going to appear as part of the bracket on national television never gets old."

The Cavaliers won their third straight Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament this year and enter the NCAA Tournament with an unblemished record of 29-0 on the season. After starting the season ranked fifth by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Virginia moved into the No. 1 spot in the Feb. 19 ranking and have not relinquished the top-seeded position throughout the remainder of the campaign.

Additionally, five singles players and two doubles teams from Virginia hold national rankings from the ITA.

"Virginia has been knocking on the door of winning a national title in each of the last few years and this year's team has to be considered one of, if not the favorite to win it this season," said Officer. "They would present a challenge for the majority of the teams invited to the NCAA Tournament, but it is a challenge we are looking forward to."

Virginia and Navy have previously faced each other 28 times, but this will be the first meeting between the programs in seven seasons.

The winner of the Navy-Virginia match will play the winner of the site's other first round match, North Carolina-South Carolina, on Saturday, May 9.