KUTZTOWN, PA (April 29, 2010) – The Kutztown University men's tennis team was selected to host the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional four-team pod for the second consecutive year. The Golden Bears (10-4 overall) earned the No. 2 seed and will open the 2010 NCAA Division II Championship tournament against No. 7 seed Mercyhurst (12-9) Thursday May 6, 2010 beginning at 3 p.m. on the Kutztown tennis courts.
The other match-up features No. 3 seed West Liberty State (13-9) against No. 6 Bluefield State (16-7), a pair of schools from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). That match will be Thursday morning beginning at 11 a.m. The two survivors will meet Friday May 7, 2010 at 1 p.m.
The winner of this pod advances to the NCAA Sweet 16 in Altamonte Springs (Fl.) to compete in the finals from May 12-15. The Golden Bears are looking to make a second straight trip to the Sunshine State. Kutztown has a 12-match winning streak on its tennis courts.
“We are thrilled, excited, happy and honored to receive the bid from NCAA to host the Atlantic Regional again this year,” Kutztown head men's tennis coach Suresh Ramamurthi said. “It is a well deserved honor to be ranked #2 in our region for all of the hard work the men have performed during the season. There are 3 very good teams coming here to win the regional and we plan on taking them all seriously and with a lot of respect.”
This is Kutztown's 12th appearance in the NCAA Division II championship tournament. The Golden Bears are 14-11 overall in the NCAA tournament since making their first appearance in 1998.
In the other half of the Atlantic Regional, West Virginia Wesleyan (20-2) earned the No. 1 seed and will meet eighth-seeded Charleston (18-10). No. 4 seed Bloomsburg (11-8) will meet No. 5 seed Shaw (20-1). Shaw is a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).
Kutztown enters the NCAA tournament after winning its ninth Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title in 11 years. The Golden Bears have defeated Mercyhurst twice this year, 5-4 in Erie on March 26 and 5-2 last week at Bloomsburg in the PSAC title tilt. Kutztown has never played Bluefield State. The Golden Bears defeated West Liberty State, 9-0, last year in a match at Bloomsburg.
Leading the Golden Bears into the NCAA tournament are PSAC Athlete of the Year Jonathan Goulet (Quebec, CANADA/) and PSAC Freshman of the Year Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown/Parkland). Kutztown's No. 1 doubles tandem of Kaushik Das (Guwahati, INDIA/) and Arpit Sharma (Kolkata, INDIA/) were named to the all-PSAC doubles team, giving the Golden Bears four players on the all-conference team.
After posting a record of 22-10, playing mostly at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles, Goulet was named to the All-PSAC first team for the first time in his career. Goulet gives the Golden Bears a second consecutive athlete of the year after Lukas Labitsch won the award last season. Meanwhile, O'Donnell stepped right into the Golden Bears lineup and made an immediate impact, specifically in No. 3 doubles with a 10-3 record. O'Donnell proved he has what it takes on the courts with a 4-1 record at the fourth singles.
Das was named to the all-PSAC singles first team in each of his first two seasons. Das has thrived with the high level of competition at the first singles spot, boasting a 15-4 record. He and teammate Arpit Sharma (Kolkata, INDIA/) were named to the doubles first-team as well. Sharma ends his career at KU receiving the first-team doubles award in each of his final three seasons. Das and Sharma have an overall record of 14-1 in the No. 1 doubles spot.
During last weekend's PSAC championships, Asok Mukherjee (/) was named the PSAC tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
“This definitely is a high visibility event that enhances our athletic program as a whole,” Ramamurthi said. “It also helps us to showcase our university to the region as well as at the national level. The best teams have advanced to the nationals now and the KU Tennis team aims to give our best to advance to the sweet 16 nationals in Orlando.”
Here's a brief look at the teams in alphabetical order heading to Kutztown for the NCAA Atlantic Region tournament:
Bluefield State: Coach Louis Belt was honored by his peers as the WIVAC Coach of the Year after lifting the Bluefield State tennis program to new heights during his third year at the helm. The 15-7 Big Blues were ranked as high as second in the NCAA's Atlantic Region rankings, the highest-ever regional ranking by any Bluefield State athletic team. BSC had its 11-match win streak snapped when it lost to Davis & Elkins, 5-3, in the first round of the WVIAC tournament. Belt is the first BSC coach to earn WVIAC men's tennis coaching honors. Shikar Kapur, WVIAC Player and Freshman of the Year, racked up a 7-1 record in conference play at No. 1 singles and paired with Dusan Zivkovic for a 6-2 mark at No. 2 doubles. The New Dehli, India native rolled to a 25-3 overall record in singles play and is the third ranked individual in the Atlantic Region.
Mercyhurst: The Lakers enjoyed a very successful season behind the triumvirate of Kyle King, Keith Whittingham and Mijo Cotic, who was named to the all-PSAC team. King and Whittingham were each voted to the all-PSAC singles squad while the tandem of Whittingham and Cotic made it as a doubles team. Head coach Ray Yost, in his 16th season at Mercyhurst, was named the PSAC Coach of the Year. King posted a 19-5 record in singles play. He went a perfect 4-0 in PSAC matches, and was also a key contributor at doubles, going 13-5 at No. 2 doubles with Adam Marnik and 13-6 overall. King has posted a 50-28 career record at singles and has gone 45-34 in doubles competition. Whittingham made an immediate impact on the Lakers after transferring from NCAA Division I Charleston Southern. He fashioned a stellar 12-1 singles record, including 9-1 at the first position and 3-0 in conference play. The junior from Erie also went 8-6 at No. 1 doubles with Cotic, earning a second All-PSAC mention for both athletes. Cotic, a 2009 All-PSAC selection at singles, went 8-6 with Whittingham at No. 1 doubles this season, and 10-11 overall in doubles competition. A senior from Mississauga, Ontario, Cotic has earned 34 career singles wins and 36 doubles victories.
West Liberty State: The Hilltoppers are making their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. Leading the charge is sophomore standout Erik Jahreskog, who was selected as a first-team honoree on the 2009-10 all-WVIAC men's tennis team. Jahreskog made an immediate impact on Coach Sam McCullough's Hilltopper tennis program this season after arriving as a transfer from Delta State (Miss.) University. The native of Goteborg, Sweden was undefeated at No. 2 singles against West Virginia Conference opposition as he helped West Liberty put together another successful season. The Hilltoppers lost in the WVIAC semifinals to Atlantic Region top seed West Virginia Wesleyan.
Team capsules compiled by Chauntelle Schroeder, Sports Information Student Intern
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