Men’s Tennis Ready For Drake In NCAA Opener Saturday

2023 NCAA Championship First Round
Date: Saturday May 6, 2023
Site: Chapel Hill, N.C. (Chewning Tennis Center)
Time: 1 p.m.

The Breakdown

• For the ninth consecutive year and 10th time in the last 11 NCAA Tournaments, the University of North Carolina men’s tennis team will host first- and second-round action in the 2023 NCAA Championship.

• The Tar Heels, who tied for third place in the final Atlantic Coast Conference regular season standings, will host Drake on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first round. Utah and Old Dominion will meet in Saturday’s opening first-round match at 10 a.m. in Chapel Hill.

• The winners of Saturday’s matches will meet in the NCAA second round at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Chapel Hill.

• Whoever wins two matches this weekend in Chapel Hill will move on to play the winner of the group that includes No. 1 seed Texas, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, UTSA and Pepperdine in the NCAA Super Regionals the following weekend.

• UNC is ranked No. 14 nationally in this week’s ITA team rankings.

• Drake has won the last two Summit League championships and enters Saturday’s match with a record of 16-10. The Bulldogs are making their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance as a program.

• On January 27, 2018, in the first round of the ITA Indoor Kickoff in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels beat Drake, 4-0.

• If the Tar Heels and Utah both advance to play on Sunday, it will be the second meeting between the schools. On January 25, 2019, in Chapel Hill, UNC beat the Utes, 4-0, in the first round of the ITA Kickoff.

• The weekend’s matches will be streamed free of charge at GoHeels.com/watch.

• Admission will be $5 per session or $10 for the men’s and women’s doubleheader on Saturday. Tickets are available here.

Storylines

• The Tar Heels are playing their best tennis of the season at the right time. UNC has won six of its last nine matches and 10 of its last 14.

•  Carolina is ranked No. 14 in this week’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.

• Carolina closed the regular season with five consecutive home matches at its brand new Chewning Tennis Facility outdoor courts.

• Graduate students Ryan Seggerman and Brian Cernoch both earned at-large bids to the 2023 NCAA Singles Championship, while Seggerman and Casey Kania are an at-large entrant in the NCAA Doubles field.

UNC’s NCAA Tournament…