SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Centennial Conference champion Swarthmore College men's tennis team is set to play in the NCAA Championship Tournament starting this week. They have been awarded a first-round bye and will play their first matchup on Saturday, May 6 in the second round versus MIT. The Garnet will make their first tournament appearance as a team since 2007.

Swarthmore captured their first Centennial Conference Championship in program history on Saturday afternoon after taking down Johns Hopkins University 5-2. First-year standout Michael Melnikov was awarded Tournament Most Valuable Player after winning both his doubles and singles matches in the championship. Swarthmore finishes 14-3 overall with an undefeated 8-0 conference record. 

GAME SCHEDULE 
Round 1: Baruch vs Farmingdale St. | May 4-5 
Round 2 : Tufts vs winner of round 1 | May 5-6 
Round 2: Swarthmore vs MIT | May 5-6



Swarthmore looks to keep their 11 match win streak going as they head into the tournament. They were dominant all season with victories over No. 8 Johns Hopkins, No. 38 Stevens, and No. 34 Mary Washington. Melnikov is undefeated this season with 14 victories in singles and a 10-0 mark in doubles action with his partner Utham Koduri. 

The Garnet will open the tournament versus MIT, who holds a 15-11 record on the season. The Engineers won their 23rd conference title after defeating No. 19 Babson 5-3 in the NEWMAC Championship. MIT has been led all season by senior Daniel Papacica who was also named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.  

Baruch heads into the tournament with a 14-4 overall record and a CUNYAC Conference championship. They will play 14-3 Farmingdale State Men's Tennis who also won their respective conference. The winner of that first round matchup will then go on to face the host, Tufts University, who comes into the tournament undefeated in the NESCAC conference with a 20-1 overall record.