JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Buccaneers have become accustomed to hearing their name called during the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Selection Show.
 
During Monday’s selection show, ETSU men’s tennis found out that it would be headed to Lexington, Kentucky, as the No. 3 seed to take on No. 2-seed and 29th-ranked Northwestern. The match between the Bucs and the Wildcats will be played on Friday, May 6, at either 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center.
 
ETSU earned the Southern Conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight season under SoCon Coach of the Year Martin Stiegwardt. The Bucs toppled Samford 4-0 in the championship match, winning all matches by the final count of 4-0 en route to another dominating season.
 
The Bucs are 20-6 this year, the second 20-win season in the Stiegwardt Era. The Bucs are led by two-time SoCon Player of the Year Dimitri Badra with a 13-6 record this spring. Badra is 11-5 when playing in the No. 1 singles slot. Badra was joined on the All-SoCon first team by teammate Frazier Rengifo. The veteran competitor will go down as one of the most successful tennis players in program history, holding a 15-5 record just this spring alone. The Blue & Gold have witnessed an emergence from Thiago Pernas and Juan Sebastian Zabala with a combined 32 singles wins and just five losses this spring.
 
Northwestern will be the counterpart in Lexington, holding a 19-10 overall record this season. Most recently, the Wildcats were bounced from the Big Ten Championship on April 30, falling 4-0 to Ohio State. Northwestern is 7-7 this season away from home, including 2-1 on neutral grounds. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two foes.
 
The winner of ETSU and Northwestern will take on the winner of Kentucky and DePaul on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner of that match advancing into the third round.