MOBILE, Ala.- Four teams, Arizona Christian, Dillard (La.), Loyola (La.) and St. Thomas (Fla.), earned 4-3 victories Tuesday in round one of the 74th annual UTR Sports NAIA Men’s Tennis National Championship.
Also winning in the first round were Holy Cross (Ind.), Huntington (Ind.), Morningside (Iowa) and Missouri Baptist.
Rain pushed the start of the men’s matches from 9 to 11 a.m. That change moved the women’s matches from 1 to 3 p.m.
The top eight seeds had first-round byes. Second-round matches will begin at 9 a.m. CDT Wednesday at Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center. Admission is free for all rounds; the tournament will conclude Saturday.
• Arizona Christian 4, New College of Florida 3: The Firestorm got singles victories from Sam Miyata and Fenosoa Rasendra to erase a 3-2 deficit. Miyata clinched at No. 4 by defeating Konstantin Kukaras 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4. Arizona Christian is 15-6 and the No. 18 seed. New College of Florida, the No. 15 seed, finished 9-9 in its first tennis season.
• Dillard 4, Coastal Georgia 3: Siddath Arya and Undrakh Purevdorj produced singles victories for the Bleu Devils to erase a 3-2 deficit. Purevdorj clinched at No. 5 by defeating Leonard Daguinot 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Dillard is 11-11 and the No. 13 seed. Coastal Georgia, the No. 20 seed, finished 10-8.
• Loyola (La.) 4, Grace (Ind.) 3: Freshman Luca Abati clinched at No. 5 singles, erasing a 5-2 second-set deficit in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory against Stergios Papadopoulos. Loyola, playing at nationals for the first time, is 8-5 and the No. 19 seed. Grace, the No. 14 seed, finished 16-7.
• St. Thomas (Fla.) 4, William Woods (Mo.) 3: Pierluigi Cruypernik clinched for the Bobcats with a 7-5, 6-3 victory against Thomas Geukemeijer at No. 5. St. Thomas is 9-10 and the No. 17 seed. William Woods, the No. 16 seed, finished 14-7.
• Holy Cross (Ind.) 4, Saint Mary (Kan.) 0: Luca McManus defeated Carlos Grimaldi 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 to clinch for the Saints. Holy Cross is 15-3 and the No. 9 seed, and Saint Mary, the No. 24 seed, finished 16-6.
• Missouri Baptist 4, Marian (Ind.) 1: Luca Da Silva Ebenriter and Sebastian Junghanns won in doubles and singles for the Spartans. Junghanns clinched at No. 3 with his 6-4, 6-3 decision against Marcos Ramos-Cabrera. Ebenriter and Junghanns, No. 3 in the ITA/NAIA doubles rankings, won 6-3 against Ramos-Cabrera and Marc Soriano. Missouri Baptist is 21-6 and the No. 12 seed. Marian, the No. 21 seed, finished 14-11.
• Morningside (Iowa) 4, Bethel (Kan.) 1: The Mustangs won at nationals for the first time. Gabriel Whiston clinched at No. 6 with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory against Adam Tomka. Morningside is 22-4 and the No. 11 seed. Bethel, the No. 22 seed, finished 19-4.
• Huntington (Ind.) 4, Oakland City (Ind.) 1: Juan Carrasco clinched for the Foresters with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory at No. 6 against Nelson Ramos. Martin Capdevila won in doubles and singles for Huntington, which is 21-4 and the No. 10 seed. Oakland City, the No. 23 seed, finished 18-8.
Round 2 pairings- 9 a.m. CDT
No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett (21-0) vs. No. 17 St. Thomas (Fla.) (9-10)
No. 9 Holy Cross (Ind.) (15-3) vs. No. 8 Cumberlands (Ky.) (16-8)
No. 4 William Carey (Miss.) (12-0) vs. No. 13 Dillard (La.) (11-11)
No. 12 Missouri Baptist (21-6) vs. No. 5 Southeastern (Fla.) (15-4)
No. 3 Keiser (Fla.) (16-1) vs. No. 19 Loyola (La.) (8-5)
No. 11 Morningside (Iowa) (22-4) vs. No. 6 Xavier (La.) (15-7)
No. 7 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (15-2) vs. No. 10 Huntington (Ind.) (21-4)
No. 18 Arizona Christian (15-6) vs. No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan (19-2)
