COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – For the first time ever, the Ursinus College men's tennis team has earned a regional ranking.
The Bears (11-7, 3-5) crashed the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic South poll for the first time in program history on Thursday, landing at No. 19. Ursinus is one of seven Centennial Conference teams in the rankings – Swarthmore (3) leads the pack, followed by Johns Hopkins (6), Haverford (10), Franklin & Marshall (11), Dickinson (18), and Washington College (20). Overall, 70 percent of CC teams appear in the regional rankings.
"This is a great day for the guys, and a really important day in the history of the men's tennis program here at Ursinus," said head coach Pete Smith. "We have never been regionally ranked, and this particular group has overcome some real adversity to arrive at this position. I am really proud of each and every one of them, especially senior co-captains Tyler Arsenault and Dalton Lynch. They have done a tremendous job leading this team. I want to thank the ITA'S Atlantic South Region ranking committee for their efforts, as they do a great job without much fanfare. All in all it's a super result at the end of a really good season."
Almost half of the men's tennis team's matches this season have come against regionally ranked competition. In addition to those six other conference foes, the Bears have also faced 17th-ranked Wilkes and 12th-ranked TCNJ (Northeast Region) during the 2015-16 campaign, challenging themselves against a stacked schedule. Ursinus' 5-4 triumph over Washington College on April 14 was the first victory over a regionally ranked opponent in school history.
All seven of the Bears' losses have come to programs with regional rankings, and many have been close – Ursinus lost 5-4 to Johns Hopkins and dropped 6-3 decisions to Haverford, Wilkes, and Dickinson.
The Bears close out the regular season with a CC match at Muhlenberg on Saturday, April 30. The next set of ITA regional rankings are scheduled to be released on June 2.