Mobile Men Open NAIA Tournament Play Tuesday @ 9 AM
MHicks posted on May 16, 2011 12:08
MOBILE, Ala—The University of Mobile men’s tennis team will open play at the 2011 NAIA Men’s Tennis National Championship Tuesday, May 17 at 9 am against 9th-ranked Vanguard University.
Mobile (6-7) is making its 12th trip to postseason play and 4th-straight since the program was reinstated in 2008. The Rams will look to snap a string of 3-straight first-round losses, including back-to-back defeats at the hands of Point Loma Nazarene. PLNU is in the same conference as Vanguard, the Golden States Athletic Conference. Mobile earned the host bid to the tournament.
The Vanguard Lions enter tournament play with a 7-13 record, and they earned one of the 11 at-large bids to the tournament. Vanguard is one of six GSAC teams in the field, and is making its 16th trip to the championships overall and 9th-straight trip.
The Lions most recently defeated then-No. 8 Concordia University 6-3 on April 26, and are 2-4 in their last six matches. They also have a 5-4 victory over tournament qualifier Lewis-Clark State this year. VU has made it to the NAIA Quarterfinals the past two seasons, and No. 1 singles player Lucas Pereira is ranked 7th among NAIA tennis players by the ITA.
The tournament is single-elimination, and the champion will be crowned on May 21st. There are 24 teams in the field, with the top eight seeds receiving a bye and awaiting the eight first-round winners for second-round action Wednesday, May 17.
Tuesday, May 17
Match 1 9 a.m. St. Thomas (Fla.) vs. Aquinas (Mich.)
Match 2 9 a.m. Vanguard (Calif.) vs. Mobile (Ala.)
Match 3 9 a.m. Huntington (Ind.) vs. Graceland (Iowa)
Match 4 9 a.m. Concordia (Calif.) vs. Bethany (Kan.)
Match 5 9 a.m. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) vs. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
Match 6 9 a.m. Shorter (Ga.) vs. Hastings (Neb.)
Match 7 9 a.m. Brescia (Ky.) vs. Union (Ky.)
Match 8 9 a.m. William Carey (Miss.) vs. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
Wednesday, May 18
Match 9 9 a.m. No. 1 Fresno Pacific (Calif.) vs. Match 1 Winner
Match 10 9 a.m. No. 8 Xavier (La.) vs. Match 2 Winner
Match 11 9 a.m. No. 5 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) vs. Match 3 Winner
Match 12 9 a.m. No. 5 Oklahoma Christian vs. Match 4 Winner
Match 13 9 a.m. No. 3 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) vs. Match 5 Winner
Match 14 9 a.m. No. 6 Westmont (Calif.) vs. Match 6 Winner
Match 15 9 a.m. No. 7 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) vs. Match 7 Winner
Match 16 9 a.m. No. 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) vs. Match 8 Winner