Men's Tennis Qualifies for Tournament, Plays Friday

When last season ended in a disappointing loss the six members of the WVSU men's tennis team who would be returning set a goal for themselves.

They wanted to qualify for the Mountain East Conference tournament.

Friday they will have achieved that goal as the 6th seeded Yellow Jackets square off against 3rd seeded Fairmont State at 2:00 p.m. at Marshall University's courts in Huntington. In case of rain the match will be moved indoors at Huntington Tennis Club in Barboursville across from the Huntington Mall and start an hour later.

A total of eight MEC schools field men's tennis teams and six qualify for the tournament.

Being one of those six may seem like a modest goal. But for a squad composed entirely of local players competing against others made up of large percentages of international players it was tougher than it might seem.

Since the MEC limited the number of teams qualifying for season ending tournament in 2015 the Yellow Jackets had not qualified.

That means that none of the current team members had ever had the opportunity to play in the event.

That will change Friday.

"This feels awesome to make the tournament," sophomore Noah Fulks from Sissonville said. "The loss to Concord last year had eaten at me for a solid year."

That loss ended any hopes the Jackets had of making the 2016 tournament. This spring the Yellow Jackets clinched a tournament berth with a hard fought 5-4 win in Institute over the Mountain Lions.

"We set a goal for this year and we accomplished it through hard work and teamwork," junior Baylee Vankirk said.

WVSU will lose just one player from this year's squad, number one singles player Kaleb Ball.

Besides Ball, Fulks, and Vankirk team members are Caleb Starkey, Dylan Jayasuriya, Ethan Cross, Sean Matics, and Ryan Long.

Tournament Draw/Times

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Players Mentioned

Ethan Cross: Sophomore

Noah Fulks: Sophomore

Dylan Jayasuriya: Sophomore

Caleb Starkey: Junior

Baylee Vankirk: Junior

Players Mentioned

Ethan Cross
: Sophomore

Noah Fulks
: Sophomore

Dylan Jayasuriya
: Sophomore

Caleb Starkey
: Junior

Baylee Vankirk
: Junior