Fairfield men’s and women’s tennis will both be traveling to the University of Southern California for the first and second rounds of the 2012 NCAA Tennis Championships.
The men will play in Los Angeles at Marks Stadium for the first and second rounds. USC will play host to Fairfield, South Carolina and Texas A&M for the opening rounds. On Saturday, May 12 Fairfield (16-4) will take on the Trojans (27-1) at 12pm, and at 9am South Carolina (15-11) and Texas A&M (13-14) will face off. The winners of Saturday's play will advance to the second round match, set for 12pm on Sunday, May 13.
The women's first and second rounds will also be played at Marks Stadium. USC will host Fairfield, San Diego and Vanderbilt. On Friday, May 11, Vanderbilty (16-7) and San Diego (13-9) will face off in first-round action at 11am followed at 2pm by the Women of Troy (20-3) against Fairfield (14-6). The winners of Friday's play will advance to the second round match, set for 3pm on Saturday, May 12.
After the selections, Head Coach Ed Paige stated “I couldn’t be more proud, these teams are very deserving. USC will be tough but both of our teams can compete at that level.”
This is the first ever NCAA berth for the men’s team and the fourth for the women. The women faced USC in 2009 in the first round. The men's tennis team at USC is the three-time NCAA defending champions and are the No. 1 seeded team in the tournament this year with a 27-1 overall record. On the women's side, USC is the fifth seed with a 20-3 record.
After two great MAAC Championship performances this past weekend, the Stags are excited to travel to California for the second time this season. Earlier in the spring, both teams visited Palm Springs, Calif. for a week of practice and two dual matches against Gonzaga University and Fairleigh Dickinson University.
A full bracket for the women's tournament can be viewed by clicking
here and the men's bracket can be viewed
here.
