KUTZTOWN, PA (May 5, 2010) – Rematches highlight the opening round of the second half of the NCAA Atlantic Regional. Bluefield State will meet West Liberty State in the first game at 11 a.m. on Kutztown’s tennis courts. Kutztown and Mercyhurst will meet for the third time this season beginning at 3 p.m. The two winners will play Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. for a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
This will be the second meeting of the year between Bluefield State and WLU with the Big Blues having pulled out a tight 5-4 decision on April 2. Both teams lost in the semifinals of the West Virginia Conference championship tournament with the Hilltoppers falling to Wesleyan while Bluefield State was upset by Charleston, snapping a school-record 12-match winning streak.
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 at Bloomsburg in the PSAC title tilt on April 24. Kutztown has never played Bluefield State. The Golden Bears defeated West Liberty State, 9-0, last year in a match at Bloomsburg.
Kutztown will be making its 12th appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Golden Bears are 14-11 in its NCAA history. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA tournament and it has a 2-4 all-time record. West Liberty is in the NCAA tournament for the fourth time and is looking for its first NCAA victory in program history. Bluefield State is making its NCAA tournament debut.
“Being in the NCAA tournament means more to us than probably any team in this tournament,” Bluefield State coach Louis Belt said. “Regardless of what happens over the next two days; we will not be disappointed. This has been a great experience for our school and student-athletes and we are really excited to be here. We’ve accomplished a lot of firsts this year.”
In the PSAC title match, Kutztown won two of the three doubles matches with the tandems of Kaushik Das and Arpit Sharma at No. 1 doubles and Asok Murkerjee and Cameron O’Donnell at No. 3 doubles earning victories. Mercyhurst’s No. 2 doubles squad of Kyle King and Adam Marnik prevailed. Marnik also won at No. 5 singles. However, the Golden Bears got victories from Jonathan Goulet, Murkerjee and Sharma to clinch the match.
In the first match at Mercyhurst, the Lakers’ tandem of King and Marnik were 8-5 winners in their doubles matches. Das and Sharma are 14-1 overall at No. 1 doubles for the Golden Bears. King and Marnik are 13-5 overall at No. 2 doubles for the Lakers.
Leading the Golden Bears into the NCAA tournament are Goulet, PSAC Athlete of the Year and O'Donnell, PSAC Freshman of the Year. Kutztown’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Kaushik Das and Arpit Sharma 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 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.
“The team has displayed a business-like demeanor throughout the entire week of practice,” Kutztown head coach Suresh Ramamurthi said. “The key for us to advance is to perform well in the doubles matches and use that as a springboard for the singles matches. I am concerned because I don’t want us to be complacent. Mercyhurst is going to battle and fight us hard because they want to keep advancing in this tournament just as much as we do.”
Mercyhurst owns a trio of All-PSAC players in Keith Whittingham, King and Mijo Cotic as it looks to defeat the Golden Bears for the first time in three tries this season. Guiding the Lakers will be Ray Yost, who was recently named the PSAC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year. Whittingham is 12-1 overall and 9-1 at No. 1 doubles.
West Liberty University tennis standout Tyler McCullough was selected as the winner of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region’s 2010 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. A steady performer at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles, McCullough helped the Hilltoppers to a No. 5 ranking in the final set of NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings this season as West Liberty advanced to the semifinals of the West Virginia Conference tournament before being eliminated by West Virginia Wesleyan, the No. 1 team in the region.
Leading the charge for WLU has been 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
“We’re excited to compete in the regionals again,” West Liberty coach Sam McCullough said. “The key for us is to be steady and focused. Eight of our losses were against teams ranked in the ITA top 40 so we’re looking forward to competing against some of the top teams in our region.”
The Big Blues placed two players on the All-WVIAC team. Shikhar Kapur was the league’s Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year while junior Marcin Majchrzak also earned first-team honors. 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 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.
--KU--