TAMPA, MAY 3, 2016 – No. 16 USF will begin its national title pursuit May 13 just up the road in Gainesville, Fla., where the Bulls will face St. John's in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship.
“We played them a few years ago and they always do a good job with their recruiting,” head coach Matt Hill said. “It's going to be a tough first match for sure.”
USF (20-8) automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship by winning its third consecutive American Athletic Conference title. The Bulls will be appearing in their third straight NCAA Tournament, all under head coach Matt Hill.
“We've had a lot of adversity this year,” Hill said. “This team has just continued to push forward and find a way to win and be successful. This team can handle a lot.”
The Bulls will have plenty of experience playing the best of the best in the tournament as they bolstered their resume this season with 24 of 28 matches coming against ranked opponents. The squad played three of their ranked foes twice this season, going 6-0 in those matches.
The Bulls advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time in program history last spring, defeating Boise State and Virginia Tech in the first and second rounds to secure a top 16 spot. Head coach Matt Hill's squad is on a seven-match win streak heading into the program's 13th NCAA Tournament appearance. In their last seven matches, the Bulls have dropped just four points, shutting out five of their seven opponents.
“We're definitely excited for this,” senior Roberto Cid said. “We've been waiting for this all season so it's going to be a good challenge for us. We've got to prepare for St. John's and just take it match-by-match.”
Should the Bulls win, they will face the winner of ninth-seeded Florida and North Florida. Florida won the SEC tournament to reach the tournament, with North Florida earning an automatic bid after winning the Atlantic Sun Tournament. USF has already topped two in-state rivals this season, defeating Florida State, 4-3, to begin the season, and UCF, 4-0, in conference play.
The winner from each site will advance to the Michael D. Case Center in Tula, Okla., where the final 16 teams will compete for the national championship May 19-30. The Bulls are no strangers to the final site of the tournament, competing there for the 2015 conference championship and playing at Tulsa earlier this season.
- #GoBulls-
