HARTFORD, Conn. – The Trinity College men's tennis team will be the No. 8 seed in the upcoming New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Tennis Championship this weekend, having qualified for the post-season for the first time since 2015 thanks to a 7-2 victory at Connecticut College over the weekend. The Bantams, coached by Lori Shulman (7th Season), finished the regular season with a 7-9 overall record and a 3-7 mark in league tilts.  Trinity is the No. 8 seed for the first time.  Trinity will square off with top-seeded Middlebury (15-2, 9-1 NESCAC) Friday afternoon at 9 a.m. in the NESCAC Quarterfinals at Amherst College. The semifinals will take place on Saturday, May 7 at 9 a.m. at Wesleyan and the finals will be at Wesleyan on Sunday May 8 at 9 a.m.  The winner of the NESCAC Championship Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament later this month.  The Panthers defeated the Bantams, 9-0, in the regular season and won the only NESCAC Tournament meeting between the teams, a 5-0 win in the 2010 semifinals.  The other quarterfinal matches Friday are No. 2-seeded Tufts vs. No. 7-seeded Colby and No. 3-seeded Amherst vs. No. 6-seeded Wesleyan at Wesleyan, and No. 4-seeded Bowdoin vs. No. 5-seeded Amherst at Amherst. 

Trinity sophomore Eduardo Sanchez-Carrion (Lima, Peru) leads Trinity in singles wins with an 11-8 record while playing in the top half of the Bantam lineup.  Senior tri-captain Ross DeRose (Buffalo, N.Y.) has held his own against some of the nation's top players with a 7-11 record, including a 7-9 mark this spring in dual matches.  Other top singles competitors for the Bantams heading into post-season play include rookie Jack Ginter (Phoenixville, Pa.) with eight wins and senior tri-captain Charles Kilborn (Winnetka, Ill.) and sophomore Henry Bilicic (Del Mar, Calif.) with seven victories apiece.  Trinity posted an even record of .500 in doubles this spring (24-24), led by the top tandem of DeRose and fellow senior tri-captain Dylan Powell (Warwick, Bermuda) who are ranked No. 15 in the region and have a 6-5 mark.