By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
GREEN BAY,
Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green
Bay men's tennis team is headed to Malibu, Calif., to face No. 7 Pepperdine in
the program's first NCAA Tournament. The Phoenix learned its tournament fate by
watching the NCAA.com Selection Show at a team gathering at The Bar on Lime
Kiln in Green Bay.
Green Bay and Pepperdine will play at 4 p.m. CT on Friday, May 11 at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif. The victor will face the winner of No. 26 Washington and No. 39 North Carolina State.
"This is what it's all about," Green Bay head coach Mark Thomas said. "This is our first NCAA experience for us. It's been a lot of work since day one, and a lot of fun. The guys have committed to this goal, we've achieved it, and we're very excited for the opportunity to go play a great Pepperdine team."
The Waves went 23-6 and won
the West Coast Conference Tournament by defeating No. 25 San Diego 4-1 in
Saturday's championship match. It marked the school's 42nd WCC title since 1958. Pepperdine, the winner of the 2006 NCAA Championship, is led by 10th-year head coach Adam Steinberg.
The Phoenix earned an automatic berth into the NCAA
Tournament by winning
the 2012 Horizon League Championship - the first conference title in school
history. No. 2 Green Bay defeated fourth-seeded Cleveland State 4-1 on Sunday,
ending the Vikings' run of four straight conference championships.
Fourth-year head coach Mark Thomas and Green Bay registered a school-record 19 wins in 2012,
going 19-6 overall 6-1 in the Horizon League. The Phoenix had a league-best
three All-Horizon League selections, as senior Paul Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and freshman Michael Tenzer (Neuried, Germany) were named to the first team and
junior Erik Finkenbrink (Duelman,
Germany) picked up second team honors.
VIDEO: Green Bay Headed to No. 7 Pepperdine for NCAA Tournament
###
For the latest and most up-to-date information on Green Bay Athletics and Green
Bay Men's Tennis, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.
Follow us on Twitter: @GBPhoenix and @RyanHartwig
Like Green Bay Phoenix Athletics on Facebook.
