May 11, 2006

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--The University of North Carolina will host an NCAA regional tournament in men's tennis this weekend at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

A pair of first-round NCAA Tournament matches will be played at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Saturday, May 13 with the No. 11 seed Tar Heels (23-4) meeting Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion South Carolina State (19-6) at 9 a.m. The second first-round match on Saturday will feature Clemson (22-9) against South Carolina (14-14) at 12 noon.

"We are excited to be the NCAA Tournament field again," said coach Paul. "We are very excited to be hosting a regional and be able to play a regional here on a weekend when our women's team is also hosting. We think this will be a great chance for our fans to see some great college tennis. Right now we are concerned about getting ready for a first-round match against a good South Carolina State team."

In the current Fila/Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings, the Tar Heels are No. 11, Clemson is No. 24 and South Carolina is No. 42 while South Carolina State is unranked. UNC defeated both Clemson and South Carolina this season, beating the Tigers 4-3 in Chapel Hill and the Gamecocks 4-2 in Columbia, S.C.

The NCAA second round match will find the two Saturday winners facing off on Sunday at 1 p.m. The winner will advance to the Final 16 of the NCAA Championship which will begin in Stanford, Calif. on Saturday, May. 20.

Tickets each day are $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Tickets will be available on the day of the match as well as in advance on TarHeelBlue.com. The ticket for Saturday also entitles patrons to attend the NCAA women's tennis second round match that North Carolina will be hosting that day at 3 p.m.

Parking immediately adjacent to the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center will be reserved, but ample parking will be available in surrounding lots. This is the seventh successive year that North Carolina has received a bid to play in the NCAA Tournament and Carolina's 14th appearance in the tournament field in the past 15 years. Since the championship went to a team tournament in 1977, UNC has earned 16 bids.

Head coach Sam Paul has led the Tar Heels to the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 13 seasons as the UNC head coach.

Since the NCAA Tournament went a regional format in 1994, this will mark the second time UNC has hosted a regional tournament. The Tar Heels hosted in 2004, falling to Ohio State 4-3 in the second round. The No. 11 seed for UNC equals its highest since the regional format was adopted in 1994. Carolina was also the No. 11 seed in 2004.

UNC had played in the NCAA Round of 16 in 1977, 1978 and 1993 while reaching the quarterfinals of the championship in 1992. Two wins in Chapel Hill May 13 and 14 will send the Tar Heels to their first Final 16 since 1993.