April 29, 2010

NWMSU, WU Earn Men's Tennis Postseason Berths

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- MIAA tournament champion and regular season co-champion Northwest Missouri along with MIAA regular season co-champion Washburn have earned spots in the 2010 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championships, the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis Committee announced.

There are 16 preliminary-round tournaments, which will be conducted May 6-7, 7-8 or 6-8, with the winner of each preliminary-round tournament advancing to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Florida, hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission and Rollins College, May 12-15.

The championships consist of a 16-team single elimination tournament. Each of the following eight regions will conduct two preliminary-round tournaments: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West. The selection of teams for the championships is based on prescribed criteria listed in the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis Championships Handbook and approved by the NCAA Division II Championships Committee.

For information pertaining to teams, dates and site, please visit www.NCAA.com for regional brackets.

Thirteen conferences receive automatic qualification into the 2010 men's championships. Each conference and its automatic qualifier is listed below:

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Shaw University
Conference Carolinas – Lees-McRae College
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Northwood University (Michigan)
Great Lakes Valley Conference – Drury University
Gulf South Conference – Valdosta State University
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association – Northwest Missouri State University
Northeast-10 Conference – Bentley University
Peach Belt Conference – Armstrong Atlantic State University
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Western New Mexico University
South Atlantic Conference – Lincoln Memorial University
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Morehouse College
Sunshine State Conference – Barry University
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – West Virginia Wesleyan College

In the final of the 2009 championships, Armstrong Atlantic State University won its second straight championship by defeating Barry, 5-4.

For more information regarding the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championships, log on to www.NCAA.com.