The Siena men’s tennis team, coming off its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, will face 11th-seeded Harvard at 2 p.m. Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Cambridge, Mass.
The Saints (13-10) gathered in Siena’s Turchi Theater on Monday evening to watch the selection show.
“We’re really just excited to play anyone in general,” said Siena junior Dante Russo, the MAAC Player of the Year. “We’ve been fortunate enough to match up with some of the Harvard players before and we’re just excited for the opportunity to take this program to a place they haven’t been yet.”
It’s the second straight year Ivy League champion Harvard (19-5) will face the MAAC representative in the first round. The Crimson beat Monmouth 4-0 last year.
Siena will try to give coach Jeff Osborn a memorable sendoff. He is retiring after the season.
“It’s a good way to go out, right?” Osborn said. “End it on a strong note. Our kids have wanted it all year and they’re going to give me 100 percent.”
Going back to 1999, MAAC men’s and women’s tennis teams are a combined 0-44 in the NCAA Tournament and have never scored a point.
“We’re going to have to bring everything we’ve got,” Osborn said. “We have nothing to lose. I believe (MAAC teams) have taken sets, but nobody’s taken a point. I think we’re going to be the first one.”
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