JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The ETSU men’s tennis team learned during Monday’s NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Selection Show that it would be headed to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the No. 3 overall seed Ohio State Buckeyes.

The first-round matchup between the Bucs and the Buckeyes will be played on Saturday, May 6, at 1 p.m.

The Buccaneers officially earned an automatic bid the tournament for the fifth straight year after being crowned Southern Conference champions for the fifth time in as many years. ETSU cruised to the title by outscoring opponents 12-0 throughout the SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship and taking down Chattanooga in the final, 4-0.

ETSU is 12-13 on the year and is led by the three-time SoCon Player of the Year Dimitri Badra. The first-team all-conference selection is 15-5 in singles competition, winning 13 of his 15 matches in straight sets – all at the No. 1 single slot. On a 12-match win streak, Thiago Pernas is 17-4 overall in singles matches, as he finished a perfect 7-0 in conference play to earn a spot on the first-team all-conference list.

The Bucs will take an Ohio State team that owns a 29-2 overall record and finished with a perfect 9-0 record in Big Ten play. The hosts enter the tournament on a 14-match win streak en route to being crowned Big Ten Conference champions. The last time out, the Buckeyes blanked No. 7 Michigan in the Big Ten tournament final.

The winner of ETSU/Ohio State will face the winner of Louisville and Texas Tech on Sunday at noon with the winner of the match advancing to the third round in Orlando, Florida.