The No. 24 Auburn men's tennis team returns to the NCAA tournament field facing No. 43 Texas Tech on Friday at noon CT in the first round of NCAA play at the Wake Forest Tennis Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. Host Wake Forest will face Radford in the other opening-round matchup at 3 p.m. CT. This is Auburn's first NCAA team bid since 2014.
"We're excited. The team is excited to go to Wake Forest and play against Texas Tech," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "This is our first time in a few years to play in the NCAA tournament. I think we've done an unbelievable job toward the end of the season. We're ready to go – ready to play and ready to compete."
The first-round winners will meet Saturday at 3 p.m. CT for the chance to advance to the Super Regionals against the winner of the Kentucky regional.
Auburn is 20-10 for the spring season and finished 5-7 in SEC play; this is Auburn's first 20-win season since 2002. After reaching the SEC tournament semifinals, the Tigers are ranked No. 24 in the latest ITA team ratings and No. 22 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25.
First team all-SEC performer Tyler Stice is ranked No. 22 in singles, while 2021 NCAA finalists Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett are No. 10 nationally in doubles.
No. 43 Texas Tech is 14-11 for the season; Tech's Isaac Arevalo is ranked No. 84 nationally in singles. No. 10 Wake Forest, the No. 9 overall seed, is 31-6 this spring. Radford, the Big South champion, is 14-7.
Opening round tickets go on sale Tuesday, May 3, online at GoDeacs.com/Tickets or by calling the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext 2 during normal business hours, 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday-Friday. All seats are general admission; adults (age 19+) are $10 each, youth (age 2-18) are $5 each, and children one and under are free. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the entrance (Gate 4) to the Wake Forest Tennis Center beginning 60 minutes prior to match time on match day, while supplies last.
NCAA bids for the individual singles and doubles championships will be announced Tuesday.
