Four Big Ten teams make it to NCAA Sweet Sixteen

It was a long weekend of tough tennis, but in the end four teams – two men’s, two women’s – survived the first two rounds of the NCAA Division I Team Championship and earned their tickets to the Sweet Sixteen at the University of Georgia.

On the men's side, Ohio State University hosted a regional that included Michigan. Both teams won their first rounds with the Buckeyes over Western Michigan and the Wolverines defeating Denver. In the second round the two Big Ten teams faced off against each other. Ohio State, seeded four in the bracket, was the winner. Though the final score showed as 4-1, the clinching match (Dino Marcan over Michael Sroczynski) was a three-setter, as were the remaining matches.

The 13th seeded University of Illinois lost their bid for another round of 16 appearance. The good news is that they were upset by another Big Ten team so Wisconsin will be representing the conference. (Read all about it here.)  At the University of Texas, Minnesota beat i(4-1) in the first round, but fell to the host team in the second (4-0).

There weren't any upsets in the women's Big Ten teams.  At the University of Michigan the fourth seeds had no problem advancing past Illinois-Chicago and then conference foe Ohio State, both with shutout scores. The University of Iowa played at Notre Dame, falling to Boise State in the first round, 4-1.  At Northwestern University, the Illini  women lost to Nebraska in a tight 4-2, but the sixth seeded Wildcats blanked Miami (OH) and then Nebraska.

We’ll take a closer look at the matchups in Georgia before the round of 16 begins. The women will begin play on Thursday, followed by the men on Friday.