NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The top four seeds in the NAIA Region XIII Men's Tennis Tournament are all from the Southern States Athletics Conference. As in the women's tournament, the No. 1 team in the country, Auburn-Montgomery, is the No. 1 seed in the tournament after finishing 17-2 in the regular season.

 

The No. 2 seed in the tournament is Berry. The Vikings finished with a 10-9 record and a third place regular season finish in the SSAC. The Vikings, ranked No. 11 in the country, advanced to the SSAC Tournament championship match before falling to the champions AUM.

 

Both the Vikings and Senators earned a bye into the semifinals of the tournament. AUM will face the winner of the Shorter vs Xavier match at 4 p.m. (EDT) on Friday. Berry will take on the winner of Lee vs Spring Hill at the same time on Friday.

 

Lee earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Flames were 11-3 this year and finished second in the conference regular seasons standings, before falling to Berry in the SSAC Tournament semifinals. The Flames, which were ranked No. 10 in the nation in the last NAIA National Poll, will take on Spring Hill in the opening-round of the tournament at noon (EDT) on Friday.

 

The other opening-round match will feature fourth-seed Shorter against the host Xavier at noon also. The Hawks finished the season 7-12 and finished fourth in the SSAC regular season standings. Shorter, which earned a No. 16 national-ranking, will face a tough test in the host institution and No. 25 team in the country. The Gold Rush finished the year as both regular-season and tournament champions of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.

 

The only other non-SSAC school in the tournament is Spring Hill. The Badgers finished 6-8 and were second in the GCAC regular-season standings but fell in the conference semifinals.

 

The tournament will feature two rounds of play on Friday with two teams advancing to the final. The final is scheduled to be played Saturday at 11 a.m. (EDT).

Pairings (seedings in parentheses)
First Round -- Friday, April 20
Lee (3) vs. Spring Hill (6), 11 a.m.
Shorter (4) vs. Xavier (5), 11 a.m.

Semifinals -- Friday, April 20
Auburn Montgomery (1) vs. Shorter-Xavier winner, 3 p.m.
Berry (2) vs. Lee-Spring Hill winner, 3 p.m.

Championship -- Saturday, April 21
Semifinal winners, 10 a.m.