Tennis Qualifies For NAIA National Tournament
The Brenau tennis team, ranked eighth in the final regular season National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Women's Tennis Top-25 poll, was named as an automatic qualifier for the NAIA National Championships in Mobile, Ala. from May 12-16.
The Golden Tigers were the fourth automatic qualifier in the 24-team field and one of four teams selected from the Southern States Athletic Conference, joining conference champion Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) University, tournament host University of Mobile (Ala.) and automatic qualifier William Carey (Miss.) University. The SSAC leads all conferences with four teams in the tournament field.
This is the 15th appearance at the national championships for the Golden Tigers, which holds a 25-13 record in the tournament and captured national titles in 1999 and 2002.
"I'm looking forward to Nationals this year," said head coach Andre Ferreira. "My feeling this year is that the gap between teams is not as wide as it's been in the past. There are several good, up-and-coming programs, as well as the usual powerhouses. So it will be interesting to see what happens."
"We feel privileged to be a part of the event and we want to represent Brenau and the SSAC very well. We are spending a lot of time on the courts and I feel that we will play our best tennis next week."
Brackets will be released by the NAIA at 6 pm central on Tuesday.