By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Surrounded by friends, family, fans, staff and administration in the Eagles Nest, the Tennessee Tech tennis team saw its name appear in the bracket of 64 for the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
The Golden Eagles are headed to Austin, Texas to square off with the No. 2-ranked Longhorns in the first round of college tennis' biggest stage. Alabama and South Florida make up the other portion of the bracket that will square off with the TTU-Texas winner in the Lone Star State over the weekend.
The tournament is a single-elimination format, with the first round scheduled for Friday, May 3 and the second round on Saturday, May 4.
Tech (10-13, 4-1 OVC) enters the exclusive field armed with history after the program's first-ever four-peat in the OVC Tournament and 10th overall tourney title. TTU blanked Eastern Illinois with a 4-0 win in the semifinals, before securing a 4-2 victory over Jacksonville State to capture the championship in Nashville. The Golden Eagles are the first OVC squad to take home four straight tourney titles since the 90s and are the only current league member to accomplish the impressive feat.
Texas, the national number two seed, plays the role of host in the opening round after a 23-3 campaign that saw the Longhorns post a perfect 5-0 Big 12 record. Despite the unblemished conference record, Texas fell 4-1 in the finals of the Big 12 Tournament to No. 8 Baylor.
The Longhorns captured the only meeting in the all-time series with the Golden Eagles, an NCAA Tournament first-round 4-0 win in Austin on May 13, 2006.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
