Men's Tennis Set for NCAA Championship First Round Matchup with Auburn

COLUMBUS, OHIO – For the first time as a No. 3 regional seed, the Belmont University men's tennis team is set for its fourth NCAA Championship appearance. The Bruins, seeded third in the Columbus Regional, will face No. 2 regional seed Auburn in the 2025 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship First Round Saturday morning in Columbus, Ohio. First serve is slated for 9 a.m. CT/10 a.m. ET.
 
The NCAA opening round match will take place on Ohio State University's campus either outdoors at the Auer Tennis Complex or indoors at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center, depending on weather.
 
Both a live stream of the match and live scoring can be found on BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont (13-10) is making its third NCAA Tennis Championship appearance in five seasons.
• The Bruins have gone up against a Southeastern Conference opponent in all four of their NCAA Championship First Round matches.
  • 2023 (Knoxville, Tenn.) – No. 8 national seed Tennessee 4, Belmont 1
  • 2021 (Oxford, Miss.) – No. 15 national seed Ole Miss 4, Belmont 0
  • 2006 (Oxford, Miss.) – No. 14 national seed Ole Miss 4, Belmont 0
• Saturday will be Belmont's first neutral-site match in the NCAA Championship.
• The Bruins dropped a 4-1 decision to the then 39th-ranked Tigers on March 13 in Auburn, Alabama. Belmont won the coveted doubles point before falling in straight sets at No. 2, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles. At the top of the doubles lineup, junior Sabi Roi and sophomore Stefan Vedovelli took down then top-15 ranked Billy Blaydes and Will Nolan 6-4.
• Hosting Auburn in March of 2017, the Bruins are 0-2 all-time versus the Tigers.
• Belmont won its second Horizon League Championship title in three seasons last Sunday with a thrilling 4-3 win over Cleveland State. After surrendering the doubles point, the Bruins came back with gutsy singles victories from Vedovelli, junior Eli Mizerski, freshman Charlie Robin and Roi, who clinched the championship in three sets at No. 3 singles.
• Belmont has put together four-straight undefeated conference seasons and has not lost a conference match since 2021.
• The Bruins won their third consecutive Horizon League South Division crown and fourth-straight conference regular season title.
• A perfect 19-0 all-time in Horizon League play, Belmont has won 23-straight conference matches.
• In his fifth year, senior Diego Castro has been a part of all three of the Bruins' recent trips to the NCAA Championship.
• Junior Esunge Ndumbe, a transfer from NCAA Division II Ferris State, was named All-Horizon League First Team. He is 9-7 at the top singles spot this spring.
• Robin was tabbed Horizon League Freshman of the Year and landed a spot on the All-Horizon Leage Second Team. He owns a team-best 20 singles victories on the year, including the fall season.
• Roi was also selected to the All-Horizon League Second Team and has accumulated 19 total singles wins this year with a 7-2 mark at the No. 3 spot.
• Head coach Jeff Cero is in his second season guiding Belmont after taking NCAA Division III George Fox University to three-straight NCAA Championships and a national quarterfinal finish in 2021.
• Auburn (19-10) features Alexander Frusina, who is ranked 68th in the nation in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. In doubles, the Tigers' Blaydes and Nolan are ranked 17th nationally while Frusina and Nolan are 78th in the country.
• After going 7-7 in SEC play, Auburn was bounced by top-seeded and fourth-ranked Texas (4-1) two weeks ago in the quarterfinals of the SEC Championship in Columbia, South Carolina.

Check out @lauwalsh10's feature on the Bruins! ??#ItsBruinTimehttps://t.co/cXGjoLGcIL

— Belmont MTennis (@BelmontMTennis) April 30, 2025

Up Next
The winner of the Bruins' outing with the Tigers will take on either regional host and No. 5 national seed Ohio State or the University at Buffalo in the NCAA Championship Second Round Sunday. First serve Sunday is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT/12 p.m. ET.
 
The sixth-ranked Buckeyes (26-3) won the Big Ten Conference regular season before being edged 4-3 by top-25 ranked UCLA in the Big Ten Championship title match.
 
The Bulls (18-5) enter the NCAA Championship on a nine-match winning streak after winning both the Mid-American Conference's regular season and tournament titles.
 
How to Follow
Follow Belmont men's tennis on social media – @BelmontMTennis on X, formerly Twitter, and @belmontmtennis on Instagram – for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.