WHAT: No. 11 Texas (18-8, 4-2 Big 12) begins NCAA tournament play in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tennis Championships.
WHO: The 11th-seeded Longhorns will host Navy, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Boise State. The winner of the Austin regional advances to the NCAA round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
WHERE: Penick-Allison Tennis Center - Austin, Texas
WHEN:
Friday, May 11
Texas vs. Navy - 10 a.m. Central
Boise State vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - 1 p.m.
Saturday, May 12
First round winners - 1 p.m.
ADMISSION: $5 for adults/$3 for students
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Texas is making its 25th appearance in the NCAA Tennis Championships. UT scored its best overall tournament finishes in 1993 and 2006 (tied for third). Texas holds a 27-24 overall record in its 24 previous tournament appearances. Last season, Texas defeated Tennessee Tech and Rice to reach the NCAA round of 16 in Palo Alto, Calif. The Longhorns knocked off 14th-seeded Mississippi by a 4-1 count in the round of 16 before outlasting sixth-seeded Ohio State, 4-3, in a match that was relocated to an indoor facility in San Francisco due to rain. UT was eliminated from the national semifinals by eventual national champion Pepperdine. In 1993, the Longhorns reached the national semifinals before falling to eventual national champion Southern California. Texas has now hosted NCAA first- and second-round matches in five (1999, 2002, '03, '06, '07) of the nine seasons since the NCAA introduced first- and second-round matches on campus sites in 1999. The Longhorns have advanced to the NCAA round of 16 in each of the four seasons they have served as a NCAA first- and second-round host and are 8-0 in NCAA first- and second-round action in Austin.
SCOUTING THE FIELD OF 64
Fifteen of the 22 schools Texas played this season reached the NCAA field of 64. The Longhorns posted an 11-8 overall record against those schools (6-5 non-conference, 5-3 Big 12). Six of the seven Big 12 schools who sponsor men's tennis reached the NCAA tournament. Only 56th-ranked Nebraska did not make the field. The Big 12 ranked fourth among conference sending teams to the NCAA Tournament. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) led all conferences with 10 teams, followed by the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with eight, the Big 10 with six and the Big 12 with five.
SCOUTING NAVY
Navy reached the NCAA Tennis Championship by capturing the Patriot League title with a pair of 4-0 victories over Bucknell and Army in its conference tournament. The NCAA first-round match pitting Texas against Navy will be the first meeting between the two schools in men's tennis. Nate Nelms holds a 13-12 record at No. 1 singles.
SCOUTING BOISE STATE
Boise State perennially has been featured in the ITA top 25 rankings. Texas and Boise State met earlier this season at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, where the Longhorns won by a 4-1 count in Chicago. Boise State features 15th-ranked Luke Shields and 61st-ranked Clancy Shields. Luke Shields and Piotr Dilaj hold a No. 56 ITA doubles ranking.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ranks 41st in the latest ITA team rankings. The Islanders reached the NCAA Tennis Championship by defeating Texas-San Antonio by a 4-0 count in the Southland Conference title match. Texas met Texas A&M-Corpus Christi earlier this season when the Longhorns posted a 5-2 victory on April 11 in Austin. Sophomore Andrey Kumantsov, who ranks 31st in the latest ITA singles rankings, holds a 15-2 record at first singles. Texas' Dimitar Kutrovsky handed Kumantsov one of his two losses this season.
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