KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – No. 28 Florida State men’s tennis (18-10) will face No. 6 Tennessee (24-7) in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Barksdale Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
“We’ve been working for this moment for a very long time,” team co-captain Sebastian Arcila said. “We’ve been building the qualities and characteristics that successful teams have. Our goals are much higher than Sweet 16.”
The Noles advanced to the third round through a thrilling victory over No. 11 Georgia led by Arcila who clinched the match on court three. It is the first time since 2009 that the Seminoles have reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
“You don’t get these opportunities that often,” head coach Dwayne Hultquist said. “We want to play this match to the best of our abilities and be ready to compete.”
FSU has only played the Volunteers four times in the program’s history. Florida State won the first-ever meeting between the two schools in 1966. The teams have not met within the last four decades.
Multiple freshmen on the Seminole squad are making their mark on the NCAA Tournament. Joshua Dous-Karpenschif and Maks Silagy won a tiebreak on court one to clinch the doubles point for the Noles against Georgia. Dous-Karpenschif also won both of his singles matches at the Athens Regional.
“The freshmen have exceeded my expectations,” Arcila shared. “They’ve stepped up in the tough moments incredibly well, and they’ve shown a lot of maturity in areas that most freshmen take a few years to reach.”
Loris Pourroy, a sophomore co-captain, has represented Florida State in the ITA Singles rankings this spring, currently as the 51st-ranked player in the country. Pourroy clinched the NCAA Tournament first-round match for the Seminoles over Georgia State.
All matches in the NCAA Tournament can be streamed on the TennisONE app.
Live stats will be available here.
Fans attending the match can purchase tickets here.
For more information on the Seminole Men’s Tennis program, check Seminoles.com and follow us on social media at FSUMTennis (IG) and @FSU_MTennis (TW).