INDIANAPOLIS - The No. 11 University of North Georgia men's tennis team will begin its run toward the ITA Division II Men's National Team Indoor Championship with a familiar opponent Friday afternoon as they will battle No. 1 Columbus State in the quarterfinal round.

This is the first time in the history of the program that UNG has been in the tournament, held at the UIndy Tennis Center. North Georgia enters as the No. 7 seed in the bracket.

"It is a great honor to be invited to the indoor national championships," said head tennis coach Kent Norsworthy. "You know you are going to get three of the toughest matches of the season here. We are tremendously excited to be in a championship environment this early in the season and we are excited for this opportunity. "

Barry is the top seed in the field, followed by CSU. Saint Leo, Hawaii Hilo and West Florida round out the top five seeds with UIndy as the No. 6 and Delta State as the eighth seed.

North Georgia will take on Columbus State Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the semifinals. Regardless of result, the Nighthawks will battle either Saint Leo or UIndy on Saturday before a match against one of the other four teams slated for Sunday.

Live stats and video are slated to be available for all three matches UNG will play this weekend with links to be found on the Tournament Central homepage as well as the men's tennis schedule page at UNGAthletics.com.