KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Bracket] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 24-team field for the 43rd Annual NAIA Women’s Tennis National Championship. The event will be held at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala., from May 14-18, for the 20th-consecutive year (the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19).
The field consists of 15 automatic berths, including one host berth, and nine at-large selections. Automatic qualification is mainly given to conference and unaffiliated grouping tournament champions. For the seventh consecutive year, at-large teams 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. Mobile (Ala.) received the host berth.
Ottawa University earns its second straight trip to the NAIA National Tournament with its KCAC Tournament Runner-Up finish. The Braves finish the season with an overall record of 15-6 and a mark of 10-1 in the KCAC to finish the regular season in second place behind conference champion, McPherson College.
Georgia Gwinnett enters the 2024 championship as the top seed. The Grizzlies went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 seed in the 2023-24 campaign beginning with the preseason rating in August.
Georgia Gwinnett is in pursuit of its eighth-consecutive national title in 2024 (ninth overall). The Grizzlies are 35-1 all-time in the national tournament and lead all active NAIA programs in national championship titles with eight. GGC is the only remaining with an undefeated record in the nation. Holy Cross (Ind.) has the fewest losses in the field (outside of Georgia Gwinnett) with two.
The Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan have the most tournament appearances of the field with 24. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (19), SCAD Savannah (Ga.) (19), Keiser (Fla.) (18), Mobile (Ala.) (18), Xavier (La.) (16), William Carey (Miss.) (12) and Georgia Gwinnett (10) are the only other schools that have 10 or more appearances.
The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all conferences and unaffiliated groupings with the most schools in the field with five. The Sun Conference has the next highest total with four.
Twenty of the 24 teams in the field are returning from 2023. McPherson (Kan.) and Northwestern Ohio are breaking the longest drought of the teams that have qualified previously. The two squads last made an appearance at the final site in 2019.
Dillard (La.) is the lone institution making its first appearance at the NAIA Women’s Tennis National Championship.
For more information on the 2024 NAIA Women’s Tennis National Championship, click HERE!
Institution | Qualifying Method | 2023-24 Record | Last Time | Appearances | Championship Record | Titles |
Dillard (La.) | At-Large | 12-7 | N/A | 1 | 0-0 | 0 |
Georgia Gwinnett | At-Large | 14-0 | 2023 | 10 | 35-1 | 8 |
William Carey (Miss.) | At-Large | 14-7 | 2023 | 12 | 13-11 | 0 |
Xavier (La.) | RRAC Tournament Champion | 21-5 | 2023 | 16 | 16-15 | 0 |
Keiser (Fla.) | The Sun Tournament Champion | 16-5 | 2023 | 18 | 33-16 | 1 |
Mobile (Ala.) | Host Berth | 14-6 | 2023 | 18 | 4-17 | 0 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | Mid-South Tournament Champion | 18-2 | 2023 | 19 | 32-18 | 0 |
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | At-Large | 11-5 | 2023 | 19 | 18-18 | 0 |
Holy Cross (Ind.) | Chicagoland Tournament Champion | 10-2 | 2023 | 2 | 0-1 | 0 |
Oakland City (Ind.) | River States Tournament Champion | 9-10 | 2023 | 2 | 0-1 | 0 |
Ottawa (Kan.) | KCAC Tournament Runner-Up | 15-6 | 2023 | 2 | 0-1 | 0 |
Westcliff (Calif.) | GSAC Tournament Champion | 13-9 | 2023 | 2 | 1-1 | 0 |
Indiana Wesleyan | Crossroads Tournament Champion | 23-4 | 2023 | 24 | 18-23 | 0 |
Loyola (La.) | At-Large | 10-7 | 2023 | 3 | 2-2 | 0 |
Southeastern (Fla.) | At-Large | 14-6 | 2023 | 3 | 3-2 | 0 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) | At-Large | 6-8 | 2023 | 3 | 3-2 | 0 |
Morningside (Iowa) | GPAC Tournament Champion | 18-3 | 2021 | 4 | 0-3 | 0 |
Tennessee Wesleyan | Appalachian Tournament Champion | 17-3 | 2023 | 5 | 5-4 | 0 |
McPherson (Kan.) | KCAC Tournament Champion | 17-4 | 2019 | 6 | 0-5 | 0 |
Middle Georgia State | SSAC Tournament Champion | 14-5 | 2023 | 7 | 5-6 | 0 |
Northwestern Ohio | WHAC Tournament Champion | 13-4 | 2019 | 7 | 2-6 | 0 |
William Woods (Mo.) | Unaffiliated – AMC/Heart/SAC Tournament Champion | 11-6 | 2023 | 8 | 9-7 | 0 |
LSU Alexandria (La.) | At-Large | 14-5 | 2023 | 9 | 9-8 | 0 |
Union (Ky.) | At-Large | 16-6 | 2023 | 9 | 5-8 |