The men's tennis team had a long day as it waited to hear from NCAA officials about the future of its season, but early yesterday evening the good news finally arrived.
Dartmouth was nominated yesterday morning as one of four regional teams to compete in the NCAA national regional tournament at Princeton this weekend, but because the University of Miami, also in the region, appealed the decision, national officials decided to open the regional tournament to six teams.
"Apparently they can do that by the rules," Coach Chuck Kinyon said. "I don't understand the philosophy behind it, but I think it will work out. I can't believe every region does it this way."
The Big Green were startled by the decision to admit six teams, which forces them to play a match Friday morning against Miami.
The tournament was scheduled to begin Saturday. Because the team will now leave Thursday, educational conflicts could arise, so Kinyon was checking last night on the availability of all his players.
An unsuspecting Columbia team will enter the tournament as the number six seed. Columbia will battle third seed Princeton on Friday. Top seeds Harvard and Southern Alabama will have byes and not play until Saturday.
The Miami team, ranked in the top 30 in the nation, is led with a number one player who is ranked third in the country. The Big Green now only have two days to prepare for the tough competition.
"We're going to have to work some magic," Kinyon said. "The guys have really worked very hard. The guys have really put in a lot of hard work for it, and I think they deserve the bid."
