Women's Tennis Earn Historic Seed in NAIA Tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo.- For the fifth time in program history, the women's tennis team is heading to the national tournament. The team knew they were going to the 2024 NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship Tournament as they earned the automatic bid from the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) by winning the program's first-ever AAC Tournament Title. The AAC Regular Season Champions were waiting on the announcement of the bracket for the tournament, which was announced on Tuesday by the national office.

This is the fourth season in a row the team will appear in the national tournament. The national tournament is set for May 14-18 at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala. 

The field consists of 24 teams, 15 automatic bids, including one host berth, and the nine at-large bids. The University of Mobile received the host berth.

Tennessee Wesleyan earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament, the highest seed in program history. The previous highest seed for the program was No. 10. As one of the top eight seeds in the field, the Lady Bulldogs will get a bye to the second round. The team will face the winner of the No. 11 LSU Alexandria and No. 22 Mobile match on Wednesday, May 15 at 1:00 p.m.

The team enters the national tournament with a 17-3 overall record and a 9-0 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) record. In the national tournament in 2023, TWU made a run to the semifinals, the program's first-ever appearance in a national semifinal. 

The at-large bids were determined by the NAIA Tennis National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of coaches and administrators from around the country. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria. 

The national tournament is set for May 14-18 at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala. The entire bracket can be seen below.