The historic year for the UT Permian Basin athletic department continued on Monday (May 6), as The UT Permian Basin men's tennis team qualified for the round of 32 in the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship. 

The Falcons became the sixth sport at UTPB to make it to the NCAA tournament during the 2023-24 school year joining football, swimming and diving, women's basketball, and the women's & men's golf teams.  

"It goes to show how our whole department is pursuing comprehensive excellence," said Head women's and men's tennis Coach Alex Hunt. "Todd Dooley (VP for athletics) has done an amazing job producing a vision for our department and letting us coaches just take it and run with it. All this success comes from the top down." 

During the selection show, the Falcons found out that they were the No. 3 seed and would face a familiar opponent – Midwestern State. 

"It feels amazing just to qualify for the NCAA tournament," said Coach Hunt. "At the beginning of the year, Josh and I were aiming at taking the top spot, but the season went how it went and now we are the number three spot. It feels great to be where we're at, but we know we can still play better tennis. Hopefully, that better tennis is ahead of us as we embark on our NCAA tournament journey." 

Despite losing to Midwestern State 3-4 during the regular season, the Falcons head into Monday's match with the same mentality they go into every match – believing they can win. 

"We've gone into every single match this season knowing that we can win. We always have that belief. So, Monday's match against Midwestern State will be no different," said Coach Hunt. "I am fully confident that if our guys can keep their emotions in check, then we'll see plenty of opportunities to accomplish something special." 

The Falcons have been hard at work this week getting ready to take on the Mustangs and have been looking good at their practices.  

"Our goal until match day is to tighten up our execution on the doubles court," said Coach Hunt. "The doubles point is going to be super important, so we're going to make every improvement and adjustment we can before we head up there to make sure we are prepared to secure that doubles point." 

The Falcons will step onto the court at the MSU Tennis Center in Wichita Falls, Texas at 11 a.m., on Monday, May 13th.