MOBILE, Ala. – The William Woods University men's tennis team makes its first ever trip to the NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship. The Owls open up play on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. CT against Our Lady of the Lake (Texas).
 
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 first 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. 

The single elimination, tournament commences with eight first-round matchups on May 16 starting at 8:30 a.m. CDT. The top-eight seeds receive a first-round bye and begin action on May 17 at 9 a.m. The event concludes on May 20 with the championship match at 9 a.m.

For more information on the NAIA National Championship, click here. To see the complete NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship Bracket, click here.
 
Our Lady of the Lake Saints enter the national championship with an 8-5 overall record. The Saints are making its second appearance at the Men's Tennis National Championship. Our Lady of the Lake qualified for the national championship by winning the Red River/Sooner/AII Unaffiliated Group Tournament. The Saints won its last match on April 29th with a 5-0 victory over Texas A&M University – Texarkana.
 
Leading the way for the Saints is Warren Fulgenzi and Bernadro Pergas. Both Fulgenzi and Pergas earned First Team NAIA Unaffiliated Group – Red River/Sooner Athletic All-Conference Teams. Mathias Rocha and Jacob Galaviz earned Second Team All-Conference honors.
 
The Owls finished the regular season with a 13-5 mark and have won its last six matches. The last loss for the Owls came on April 8th when they lost to NCAA Division II University of Nebraska at Kearney. In the last regular season NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the Owls came in at No. 9.
 
The Owls Christian Barbieri, was named the Player of the Year, and Oscar Barreiro were a First Team singles All-Conference selection. Christian Barbieri went 8-4 on the season. He was 6-3 playing No. 1 singles and 2-1 in No. 2 singles. Barreiro finished the season with tied for the best record for the Owls at 12-2. He was a 2-0 playing No. 1 singles, 6-0 playing No. 2 and 3-0 playing No. 4 singles.
 
Earning Second Team Singles All-Conference honors were Johnnie Carmichael, Christopher Vleeming Ortiz, David Barbieri. Carmichael, a sophomore, tied for the best record with Barreiro on the team with a 12-2 record. He was 5-0 playing No. 4 singles, 5-1 playing No. 3 singles on the season. Vleeming Ortiz finished the season 5-3 on the season, as he won all 3-0 matches playing No. 3 and 2-0 playing No. 4 singles. David Barbieri finished the year with a 9-7 record, as he won six matches in No. 6 singles.
 
Besides earning the singles honors, David Barbieri and Stefan Simic were first team doubles, and Johnnie Carmichael and Oscar Barreiro were named first team doubles. Christopher Vleeming Ortiz and Christian David Barbieri earned second team doubles honors.
 
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com for information on the upcoming NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship.