Dalton State Men's Tennis Headed To NAIA Tournament

Kansas City, Mo.  (National Championship Schedule & Results) (Bracket) The No. 15-seed Dalton State men’s tennis team (11-7) will face No. 18-seed Oklahoma Baptist University (10-9) from Shawnee (Ok.) In Tuesday morning’s opening round of the single elimination National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championship Tournament in Mobile (Ala). First serve has been set at 8:30 a.m. CDT.

Dalton State had been awarded the ninth and final at-large spot in the NAIA tournament, May 12-16 at the Mobile (Ala.) Tennis Center. The Roadrunners are competing in the first season of post season eligibility. The Bisons had been guaranteed a spot by virtue of their 6-3 championship win over Our Lady of the Lake in the Unaffiliated Group (RRAC/SAC/MCAC) Tournament. The Roadrunners shut-out the Bees, 9-0 while the Bisons downed SCAD-Atlanta, 5-4.

“The guys have invested a tremendous amount of work over the last two season,” said Dalton State Coach Zach Rogers. “”I am extremely happy to see them rewarded with the opportunity to compete at the national tournament. I am glad that our team captain and lone senior, Lucas Souza, will get the chance to get on the court representing Dalton State against the NAIA’s best.” 

Tuesday’s winning team will face No. 2-seed Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) in Wednesday’s second round. The Eagles received a first round bye. Embry-Riddle – 2014 national runners-up – will be making their NAIA-best 16th national championship appearance, having appeared in every national championship since the current team format was adopted in 2000. The Eagles enter the competition after claiming The Sun Conference tournament championship over Northwood (Fla.), 5-0, on April 18. They are also the SC regular season champs.

Oklahoma Baptist played Embry-Riddle during the regular season with the Eagles shutting out the Bisons, 9-0.

The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all conferences with five teams in the national championship field. No other conference had more than three teams qualify for the national championship. 

SSAC Champions Auburn Montgomery received an automatic bid. Mobile received a bid as the host school. William Carey, a team Dalton State downed 5-4 during the season, received the No. 3 at-large spot. Coastal Georgia took the No. 5 at large position.

The field consists of 14 automatic berths, 9 at-large selections and one host berth. Automatic qualification is given to conference and unaffiliated grouping tournament champions. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.

Defending national champion and No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett headlines the field after claiming the unaffiliated grouping (AII/AMC/Cascade/Frontier/GCAC) automatic bid. The Grizzlies are making their second-straight and second overall appearance in the national championship as they look to win another title in just their second year eligible for NAIA postseason competition.

Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) and Vanguard (Calif.) are second in appearances at the national championship with 15 apiece. Auburn Montgomery will be searching for its 10^th all-time national title and its first since 2010. The Warhawks won their 11th-straight Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Tournament championship on April 19 over William Carey (Miss.), 5-0. They hold a 42-8 national championship record.

Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament champion Vanguard and Mid-South Conference Tournament champion Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) are two championship mainstays looking for another run in this year’s national championship. The teams have combined for 28 national championship appearances and 29 national championship wins. Neither team has yet to claim a banner. 

Six of the 24 qualifiers have made at least 10 appearances at the national championship, led by aforementioned Embry-Riddle (16). Auburn Montgomery (15), Vanguard (15), Graceland (Iowa) (14), Lindsey Wilson (13), and Bethany (Kan.) (12) have all made 10-or-more appearances as well. Auburn Montgomery (1987, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010), Embry-Riddle (2013), Mobile (1993, 1997) and Georgia Gwinnett (2014) are the only qualifiers with at least one national title.

Five teams will be competing in their first-ever national championship—Cardinal Stritch (Wis.), Dalton State (Ga.), McPherson (Kan.), Reinhardt (Ga.) and San Diego Christian (Calif.).

Fifteen teams return from the 2014 field. 

2015 Men's Tennis Qualifiers