Bulldogs take on No. 16 Oklahoma State in first round of NCAAs

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After winning its third-consecutive Northeast Conference Title, the Bryant University men's tennis team earned a NCAA berth, drawing No. 16 Oklahoma State, as announced by the NCAA last Tuesday evening.

The Bulldogs (12-11, 3-0 NEC) steam rolled their way through April, finishing 5-2, including shutouts in their last four matches. Two of those matches came in the NEC tournament, where the Bulldogs moved past No. 5 Wagner, 4-0, in the semifinals before defending their title with a 4-0 victory over No. 3 Saint Francis U.

Bryant's championship three-peat places them in the NEC record books as the 2015-16 squad became the first team to win three straight in the last decade and one of only three teams to do so in league history.

In the Bulldogs' NCAA debut in 2014, they faced No. 3 Ohio State losing, 4-0, in Columbus, while their 2015 appearance resulted in a 4-0 defeat to No. 2 Baylor in Waco.

Bryant was led this season by senior Max Vogt (Fair Oaks, Calif.) in No. 1 singles as he finished 6-6 on the season. Following Vogt is junior Oliver Welsh (San Diego, Calif.) who finished 5-9 at No. 2 and sophomore Luke Lorenz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with a 7-6 mark at No. 3 singles. Freshmen Michael Plutt (Weston, Fla.) and Artur Jakubowski (Dallas, Texas) have provided the Bulldogs the most success at No. 4 and 5, as Plutt holds a 6-3 tally, while Jakubowski totals 6-6 on the season. Sophomore Jorge Ortiz-Garcia (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) rounds out the lineup at a dominant 8-2 in No. 6 singles.

The Black and Gold's superb play through the whole lineup will prove helpful as they travel to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State in the first round of the big dance.

The Cowboys (18-7, 2-3 Big 12) fell to Baylor 4-2 in the Big 12 Championship but were still able to garner a NCAA tournament bid after important wins over No. 18 California, No. 14 South Florida, No. 11 Wake Forest and No. 22 Minnesota and five other top 50 teams this season.

"We are looking forward to our trip to Oklahoma," said head coach Ron Gendron. "Oklahoma State is one of the better teams in the country and should pose our greatest challenge to date. Hopefully a challenging early-season schedule will have prepared us to compete at the highest level we are capable of. We ultimately look forward to representing the NEC and our region with character and pride."

The first round is set for noon on Saturday at the Greenwood Tennis Center. Fans can follow along with live stats at bryantbulldogs.com or view the live broadcast at okstate.com.