SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- After winning the West Virginia Conference Tournament back on April 19, the Shepherd College men's tennis team now looks forward to the next step--the National Division II Tournament.
Although Shepherdstown is closer to the Atlantic Ocean, Shepherd has qualified for the Great Lakes Regional section of the national tournament. On Friday, the Rams will take their 20-2 record into Big Rapids, Michigan to battle Ferris State. Shepherd is the number seven seed in the Great Lakes Region while Ferris State is the two seed. The Bulldogs are also ranked 26th in the nation, while Shepherd is unranked nationally.
"We are as prepared for this as we are going to be," says Shepherd coach Chris Stambaugh. "We just won some very tough matches to win our conference tournament when the automatic bid was on the line. As well, we played against some very tough competition during our spring break in South Carolina. The plan was not to just get here; the plan was to get here and be ready."
The winner of the Shepherd/Ferris State match will play Saturday against the Wayne State/Missouri-St. Louis winner to determine the regional champ. That team then advances to the "Sweet 16" in Altamonte Springs, Florida.