NCAA Tournament Information /
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The Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team is set to square off with third-seeded Virginia on Saturday at 12 p.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center in Charlottesville, VA for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
It is the Knights' (15-8) fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament and first since 2008 when they also faced Virginia, falling 4-0.
FDU stamped its ticket to the first round by sweeping Monmouth, 4-0, in the Northeast Conference Championship match in what was the Knights' 11th win in their last 12 matches. The Burgundy and Blue also shut out St. Francis NY and Mount St. Mary's in the conference tournament en route to their NEC record 11th men's tennis title.
NEC Coach of the Year
Ira Miller has put together a strong lineup headlined by NEC Rookie and Player of the Year
Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Language School). The freshman from Latvia went 7-0 against the NEC this season and currently holds a 15-4 mark at the No. 1 position.
Five of FDU's six singles starters were honored with First or Second Team All-NEC recognition, while all three of the Knights' doubles teams were rewarded for their performance this season with NEC postseason honors as well.
UVa (24-1), the No. 2 ranked team in the nation and the third-seed in the NCAA Tournament, is fresh off its win in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship over Duke on April 22.
Last year's national runner-up, the Cavaliers are riding a 17-match winning streak and have not lost since Feb. 19 when they were defeated by then-No. 2 Ohio State.
Virginia is led by ACC Coach of the Year Brian Boland, as well as ACC Rookie of the Year Mitchell Frank and ACC Player of the Year Jarmere Jenkins. Frank and Jenkins are currently ranked No. 2 and 4 in the nation, respectively. The Cavaliers also have two other singles players in the top 100 in Alex Domijan (No. 39) and Justin Shane (No. 82).
A win by the Knights would earn them a spot in the second round with a match against the winner of VCU versus Columbia on Sunday at 12 p.m.
