MOBILE, Ala.- Defending champion Keiser (Fla.) and unbeaten Georgia Gwinnett and William Carey (Miss.) scored victories Wednesday in the 74th annual UTR Sports NAIA Men’s Tennis National Championship.
Also winning in round two were Cumberlands (Ky.), Southeastern (Fla.), Morningside (Iowa), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and Tennessee Wesleyan. Seven of the eight top seeds advanced.
Quarterfinal matches will begin at 9 a.m. CDT Thursday at Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center. Admission is free for all rounds; the tournament will conclude Saturday.
• Keiser (Fla.) 4, Loyola (La.) 0: The Seahawks, 17-1 and seeded third, extended their winning streak to 16. They’ve won 29 of 30 dating to last season. Shaheed Alam, No. 1 in the ITA/NAIA singles rankings, won 6-0, 6-1 against Sam Izrael. Felipe Rivadeneira clinched with his 6-0, 6-1 victory against Luca Abati. Keiser advanced to the quarterfinals for the 13th consecutive time. Loyola, the No. 19 seed and playing at nationals for the first time, finished 8-6.
• Georgia Gwinnett 4, St. Thomas (Fla.) 0: The Grizzlies, a 10-time national champion and seeded first this season, improved to 44-1 all-time in the tournament (2014-19, 2021-present). They’re 22-0 this year and 281-6 over the last 13 seasons. Kanan Gasimov clinched at No. 6 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Maxime Navrotchi. Santiago Villarruel and Luis Francisco Sampedro, No. 1 in ITA/NAIA doubles and 14-0 this season, won 6-1 against Pablo Olmedo and Ivan Menendez. Georgia Gwinnett is 12-for-12 all-time in advancing to the quarterfinals. St. Thomas, the No. 17 seed, finished 9-11.
• William Carey 4, Dillard 2: The Crusaders, 13-0 and seeded fourth, won four singles matches to reach the quarterfinals for the fourth time and the first time since 2019. Artur Ibragimov clinched at No. 4 with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2) victory against Undrakh Purevdorjh. Dillard, the No. 13 seed, finished 11-12.
• Cumberlands 4, Holy Cross (Ind.) 0: The Patriots, 17-8 and seeded eighth, advanced to the quarterfinals for the second straight year and the third time overall. Gabriele Solda won in doubles and singles, and he clinched at No. 3 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Matt Jezyk. Holy Cross, the No. 9 seed, finished 15-4.
• Southeastern (Fla.) 4, Missouri Baptist 1: The Fire, 16-4 and seeded fifth, reached the quarterfinals for the second straight season and the third time in four years. Pedro De La Riva clinched by beating Sebastian Junghanns 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 3. De La Riva is 14-0 and lost only one set in his last 17 singles matches. Missouri Baptist, the No. 12 seed, finished 21-7.
• Morningside (Iowa) 4, Xavier (La.) 3: The Mustangs, seeded 11th, never trailed in their upset of No. 6 XULA. Santiago Minetti clinched at No. 5 with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory against Edilson Rosa. Morningside (23-4) has won 12 straight and 17 of its last 18 matches. Three-year All-American Nereo Suarez won in doubles and singles for the Gold Rush (15-8).
• Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 4, Huntington (Ind.) 2: After a tie at 2, the Blue Raiders got victories from Mateo Larrea and Aldo Randazzo to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2021. Larrea clinched at No. 3 with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory against Martin Capdevila. It was the 14th consecutive victory for Lindsey Wilson (16-2), the No. 7 seed. Huntington, the No. 10 seed, finished 21-5.
• Tennessee Wesleyan 4, Arizona Christian 0: Serafin Zund won in doubles and singles, and Santiago Russo clinched at No. 4 to help the Bulldogs reach the quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive year. Russo defeated Sam Miyata 6-2, 6-3. Tennessee Wesleyan, 20-2 and seeded second, has won 15 straight and, dating to last season, 30 of its last 33. Arizona Christian, the No. 18 seed, finished 15-7
Quarterfinal pairings — 9 a.m. CDT
No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett (22-0) vs. No. 8 Cumberlands (Ky.) (17-8)
No. 4 William Carey (Miss.) (13-0) vs. No. 5 Southeastern (Fla.) (16-4)
No. 3 Keiser (Fla.) (17-1) vs. No. 11 Morningside (Iowa) (23-4)
No. 7 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (16-2) vs. No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan (20-2)
