The 5th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team received its 25th consecutive bid to the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, announced Tuesday afternoon. The Aggies were named one of 16 host schools as the fifth seed and will host first-and second-round action at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, May 11-12. The Maroon and White will take on Lamar (10-13) in the NCAA opening round, while No. 27 Baylor (20-9) and Arizona State (14-10) will compete in the other first-round contest.
First-round matches in College Station will begin on Friday, May 11, with the Bears and Sun Devils facing off at 10 a.m., followed by the Aggies (22-5) and Cardinals at 1 p.m. The two winners will meet at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, to determine which team advances to the NCAA Team Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C., May 18-22.
The 2018 selection marks the 26th overall appearance for the men's tennis team in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, the Aggies hosted the first and second rounds in College Station. The Aggies opened the tournament with back-to-back 4-0 victories over Oregon and Buffalo before falling to No. 5 UCLA in the Round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
The NCAA Selection Committee named Wake Forest (1), UCLA (2), Ohio State (3), Stanford (4), Texas A&M (5), Mississippi State (6), North Carolina (7), Illinois (8), TCU (9), USC (10), Texas (11), Florida State (12), Florida (13), Oklahoma (14), Michigan (15) and Columbia (16) the national seeds. In addition to the three national seeds from the SEC, seven additional teams were named to the field of 64 (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt).
All-session and single match tickets will be on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 888-992-4443, online at www.12thmanfoundation.comor in person from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Kyle Field Box Office located on the north end of the stadium. Tickets can also be purchased at the Mitchell Tennis Center starting at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 11.
NCAA Singles and Doubles brackets will be announced Wednesday on NCAA.com, visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis in the field. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
