BOISE, Idaho - The Boise State men's tennis team found out its opponent and destination for the first round of the NCAA Championship Tuesday afternoon when the bracket was revealed. Boise State has a rematch with No. 19 South Florida (19-6) on May 8 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The two met earlier this year at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala., where the Bulls defeated the Broncos 4-0. The winner will face the winner of Virginia Tech and East Tennessee State in the second round on Saturday (May 9) at Blacksburg.
"Well, we knew we were going to a concert in a sense, but we did not know if we were going to a rock and roll concert, a salsa, hip-hop or folk concert. So we might have been going to a dance that I am not be very good at or somewhere that the conditions may not have been perfect," coach Greg Patton said. "As far as I am concerned we struck gold. We're going to a great place, we're going to Virginia Tech and we are going to be playing South Florida who we've played before. So we are thrilled and excited because we love where we're going, we know this first match will be critical and we know our opponent. I can't wait, I can't wait, it is like going to a Neil Young concert. I have been listening to that guy my whole life and I love it. We are going to be making music in the dance and it will be our type of music."
Boise State will look to ride its momentum from winning the Broncos' fourth-consecutive Mountain West Championship this past weekend in Albuquerque, N.M. In addition, the Broncos will look to continue its luck against opponents in rematches having gone 3-0 in second encounters this season defeating No. 42 Pepperdine, No. 69 Fresno State and No. 39 New Mexico after falling to each in the first meeting of the year.
The Broncos have made it a tradition of going to the postseason under coach Patton. This is the fourth straight trip and 10th in last 11 years for Boise State under Patton, all since he returned for his second stint in charge of the Blue and Orange. Overall, 16 of the 18 NCAA tournament berths in the program's history have come during his 19-year tenure.
