Eagles Men's Tennis Receive At-Large Bid for NAIA Nationals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. –  [Bracket] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 24-team field for the 70th Annual NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship. The event will be held at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala., from May 17-21, for the 18th-consecutive year.

The field consists of 14 automatic berths, including one host berth, and 10 at-large selections. Automatic qualification is given to conference and unaffiliated grouping tournament champions. For the fifth consecutive year, at-large teams were determined by the NAIA Tennis National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council (NAC) Rules and Ratings Committee, the president of the Tennis Coaches Association, and two at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria. Mobile (Ala.) received the host berth.

Georgia Gwinnett is in pursuit of its eighth-consecutive national title in 2022. The Grizzlies are a perfect 28-0 all-time in the national tournament and lead all active NAIA programs in national championship titles with seven. The Grizzlies are one of two programs in the 2022 field which have an undefeated record. Tennessee Wesleyan is the only other undefeated team in the field. The Grizzlies are the lone team with a national championship in their history.

The Blue Raiders of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) have the most tournament appearances of the field with 19. Keiser (Fla.) (15), Mobile (Ala.) (14), Xavier (La.) (13), and William Carey (Miss.) (11) are the only other schools in the field with 10 or more appearances.

The Appalachian Athletic Conference and The Sun Conference are tied for the lead with the most schools in the field with four apiece. The Southern States Athletic Conference and the Mid-South Conference have the next highest total with three.

Twenty of the 24 teams in the field are returning from 2021. Coastal Georgia is breaking the longest drought of the teams that have qualified previously. The Mariners' last time making an appearance at the final site was 2018.

Two teams will be making their first appearance in the NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship. Ave Maria (Fla.) and Oakland City (Ind.) will both be making their first national championship appearance.

For more information on the 2022 NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship, click HERE!