“Ultimately, one of our goals was to make the tournament the past two years, we were close,” Orlando said. “We decided we needed to bump up our schedule outside the Big Ten conference and I think that’s what pushed us through.”

Junior Aaron Pfister, who earned his second First-Team All-Big Ten nomination, said it initially was a surreal feeling getting the bid to the tournament.

“We knew that night we had to get to work and we trained hard this week,” Pfister said. “We are pumped up to get a shot at this tournament and see if we can make some noise.”

Orlando said Pfister has been one of the key players on the tennis team for the past several few years, which makes the tournament bid even better, given the level Pfister and others have been able to maintain.

“Playing the best players in the country, he’s a guy we can count on every time we go out and play,” Orlando said.

Going into the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans are the No. 3 seed while Tulsa is penciled in at the No. 2 seed.

Orlando spoke of the excellence of Tulsa’s tennis program. This year, Tulsa posted a 15-7 record and was 12-7 vs. nationally-ranked teams. MSU is hoping to one day maintain a similar level of excellence.

“Tulsa has been a solid team for quite sometime and they will be a good challenge — but definitely a team we feel we can beat,” Orlando said.

Playing against some of the best teams nationwide in the Big Ten really helped to prepare the Spartans for the tournament, according to sophomore Gijs Linders.

“The Big Ten conference is one of the strongest conferences in the country, which really set us up to be ready to take the next step in the NCAA (tournament),” Linders said.

Overall, Orlando expressed satisfaction at his team’s accomplishment and is ready to show the world what his team is made of.

“The guys have really stepped up and have worked hard and it’s been great to see the improvement,” Orlando said. “We are excited about playing this weekend.”