Watching the NCAA men's tennis selection show was a formality for Ann Arbor native Andy Gauthier and his Cornell University teammates. After winning the first outright Ivy League title in program history, the Big Reds were guaranteed a slot.

That didn’t make it any less sweet when their name came up on the television screen on Tuesday.

“I’m really excited,” said Gauthier, a 2007 Pioneer High School graduate. “Every NCAA tournament is going to be a tough draw, but we’re really excited just to be in and be a part of it.”

Gauthier isn’t speaking from experience. No one in the history of Cornell tennis could. This is the first time the Big Reds have qualified for the NCAA championships.

For Gauthier, a senior captain who has played in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots, making the tournament in his senior year is extra rewarding because of how far the team has come since his arrival.

“When I came in, we were really at the bottom of the league,” said Gauthier. Cornell’s second-place finish in the Ivy League in 2009 was the school’s highest since 1950. “But the coach my freshman year brought in a lot of talent that year and that helped.”

Though the talent stuck around, the coach to which Gauthier is referring, Barry Schoonmaker, did not. Current coach Tony Bresky is in his first year with the team and is the third coach Gauthier has played for at Cornell.

Bresky said Gauthier’s leadership is one of the factors in the Big Reds’ rise as a program.

“He leads by example, on and off the court,” said Bresky.

Bresky point out that though Gauthier was an accomplished high school player -- a No. 1 singles state champion as a junior and runner-up as a senior at Pioneer -- he wasn’t as highly touted on the Juniors circuit as many believe players have to be to succeed at the next level.

Four years later, Gauthier is a two-time all-Ivy League player -- the first at Cornell since 1985 -- who will try his hat in the professional game this summer by entering some futures tournaments in Europe.

“He’s worked his way up and been a super role model for the entire team,” Brasken said.

Gauthier and Cornell take on Big East champions Louisville in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday, May 13 at the University of Kentucky.

WOLVERINES IN THE TOURNAMENT

The Michigan men's and women’s tennis teams will both participate in their respective NCAA tournaments.

The No. 10-ranked women finished first in the Big Ten regular season standings and will host a regional in Ann Arbor. It is the tenth consecutive trip to the postseason for the Wolverines, who will face Akron at 1 p.m. next Saturday. Tulsa and Nebraska, the other teams in the regional, play at 10 a.m. The winners meet at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The men’s team received an at-large bid and will travel to Durham, N.C., to take on Maryland next Friday. Regional host Duke plays George Washington in the other semifinal. It is the sixth straight trip to the championships for the Wolverines.

Know of a local athlete succeeding at the college level? Tell us about it by emailing petercunningham@annarbor.com.