MOBILE, Ala. – The William Woods University women's tennis team, sponsored by Fulton Medical Center, makes its third straight trip to the NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship. The Owls will open play on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. CT against Southwestern College (Kan.).

The field consists of 12 automatic berths, 11 at-large selections, and the host berth Mobile (Ala.). Automatic qualification is given to conference and unaffiliated grouping tournament champions.

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), the president of the Tennis Coaches Association and two at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria. 

The single elimination tournament commences with eight first-round matchups on May 15 starting at 8:30 a.m. CDT. The top eight seeds receive a first-round bye and begin action on May 16 at 9 a.m. The event concludes on May 19 with the championship match at 9 a.m.
 
For more information on the NAIA National Championship, click here. To see the complete NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship Bracket, click here.
 
Southwestern College Moundbuilders enter the national championship with a 19-2 overall record. The Moundbuilders are making its second appearance at the Women's Tennis National Championship and first appearance since 2007. Southwestern is 0-1 in its previous trip to Nationals.
 
Southwestern qualified for the national championship as the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Champions. Southwestern defeated McPherson (Kan.) 5-4 in the KCAC Championship match. 
 
The Moundbuilders are led by First Team All-KCAC selection Esperanza Contador. Brailey McMinn and Anna Mankoski earned Second Team All-KCAC honors. Abbi Groff was named All-KCAC Honorable Mention.
 
The Owls finished the regular season with a 16-6 mark and have won its last three matches. The last loss for the Owls came on April 22nd when they lost to NCAA Division I Missouri State University, 7-0. In the last regular season NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the Owls came in at No. 7. This was the third straight season the Owls have won the Heart of American/American Midwest Unaffiliated Group Tournament.
 
In the first-ever AMC Women's Tennis All-AMC Team the Owls came away with plenty of wards.. Earning AMC Freshman of the Year honors was Julia Perez Wienese. Perez Wienese was 6-11 in singles action on the season. She also earned First Team All-AMC honors and AMC/Heart All-Conference First Team singles honors this season.
 
Karyna Sagalai earned First Team All-AMC honors and AMC/Heart All-Conference First Team singles on this season. She finished the season with a 4-10 record in singles against. Sagalai is ranked 41st in the nation in singles.
 
Earning First Team All-AMC honors and AMC/Heart All-Conference Second Team was Zlata Shuraeva. Shuraeva was 5-9 in singles this season.
 
Felicia Cesar and Ana Zavala earned Second Team All-AMC honors and AMC/Heart All-Conference Second Team honors. Cesar went 9-2 on the season in singles action. Zavala was 7-3 in singles action.
 
In doubles action, Julia Mulder and Abigail Lemberger teamed up to earn AMC/Heart All-Conference First Team doubles honors. The duo is ranked 17th in the ITA rankings went 7-3 on the season.
 
Also, earning AMC/Heart All-Conference First Team doubles honors was Ana Zavala and Zlata Shuraeva. They are the fourth ranked doubles team in the nation. They went 11-2 on the season.
 
Felicia Cesar and Chelsea Steward were named AMC/Heart All-Conference Second Team doubles. The team was 7-3 on the season.
 
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com for information on the upcoming NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship.  

Hear From Head Coach Justin Stuckey