As expected, the news was good for the Lewis-Clark State College men’s tennis team on Monday, but disappointing for the Warrior women’s team.
The final NAIA tennis polls of the season were announced on Monday, along with the at-large berths for the NAIA national tournament and the Warrior men earned a spot in the 24-team field for the 12th straight year and 21st time overall. The LCSC women, however, missed an at-large berth by two spots and had its streak of national appearances end at 14 straight years.
The NAIA national tournament will be held May 17-21 in Mobile, Ala.
The Warrior men finished second to Oklahoma Christian in the Cascade/Frontier/MCAC/Red River/Sooner Tournament and received the final of 11 at-large berths, based on being ranked No. 19 in the final poll. The Warriors earned 103 points in the final poll, while No. 21 McKendree University of Illinois, received 99 points. The four point differential kept McKendree out of the national tournament.
The men’s national tournament field features 12 teams that received automatic berths for winning their conference titles and one host berth. The remaining 11 teams received at-large berths based on their ranking.
Although seeding and first-round pairings for the national tournament won’t be announced until Tuesday, the Warriors will likely be paired against Vanguard of California or Union of Kentucky. The top eight seeds in the tournament, which are usually the top eight ranked teams, all receive first-round byes, while No. 9 will play No. 24 and down the list. Mobile, the host team, will likely be the No. 24 seed and LCSC likely will be No. 23, meaning it will play the No. 10 team, which is currently Union.
On the women’s side, the top 16 spots from last week’s poll remained unchanged, which left LCSC on the doorstep. The Warriors stayed at No. 16 with 155 points.
The women’s tournament features 14 teams that earned automatic berths by winning their respective conference/independent/unaffiliated group tournament, one host berth and nine at-large berths. Those nine at-large berths were gobbled up by the top 13 teams in the country as only five of the top 13 earned an automatic berth.
Because a couple of conferences dominate women’s tennis at the NAIA level, they took most of the at-large berths. The Golden State Athletic Conference gobbled up four of the at-large berths, while Southern schools took four more. Southern Nazarene of Oklahoma, which finished second in LCSC’s group tournament while the Warriors were third, picked up the other at-large berth.
Lee University, from Union, Tenn., was ranked No. 13 in the poll and picked up the last at-large berth. No. 14 Olivet Nazarene won its league title to qualify, but No. 15 Shorter, which had 173 points in the poll, was the first team left out, while LCSC was the second.
2011 Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll - Final Rating
|
RANK
|
LAST
WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
2011
RECORD |
TOTAL
POINTS |
|
1
|
1
|
Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) (10)
|
21-2
|
250
|
|
2
|
2
|
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.)
|
14-6
|
242
|
|
3
|
3
|
Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.)
|
23-3
|
233
|
|
4
|
4
|
Oklahoma Christian University
|
21-1
|
226
|
|
5
|
5
|
Azusa Pacific University (Calif.)
|
15-6
|
218
|
|
6
|
6
|
Westmont College (Calif.)
|
12-5
|
210
|
|
7
|
7
|
Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.)
|
15-7
|
200
|
|
8
|
9
|
Xavier University (La.)
|
13-9
|
192
|
|
9
|
8
|
Vanguard University (Calif.)
|
7-13
|
183
|
|
10
|
10
|
Union College (Ky.)
|
17-5
|
177
|
|
11
|
12
|
Shorter University (Ga.)
|
12-4
|
166
|
|
12
|
11
|
Concordia University (Calif.)
|
8-14
|
163
|
|
13
|
13
|
Graceland University (Iowa)
|
11-5
|
151
|
|
14
|
15
|
Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.)
|
14-5
|
147
|
|
15
|
14
|
William Carey University (Miss.)
|
12-9
|
143
|
|
16
|
16
|
Aquinas College (Mich.)
|
24-3
|
136
|
|
17
|
17
|
Saint Thomas University (Fla.)
|
14-3
|
119
|
|
18
|
18
|
Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.)
|
14-3
|
110
|
|
19
|
19
|
Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho)
|
10-8
|
103
|
|
20
|
20
|
McKendree University (Ill.)
|
20-3
|
99
|
|
21
|
21
|
Tennessee Wesleyan College
|
11-6
|
90
|
|
22
|
22
|
SCAD Savannah (Ga.)
|
7-4
|
84
|
|
23
|
23
|
Martin Methodist College (Tenn.)
|
14-5
|
82
|
|
24
|
25
|
Bethany College (Kan.)
|
21-3
|
61
|
|
25
|
24
|
Webber International University (Fla.)
|
13-6
|
60
|
Others receiving votes: Lee (Tenn.) 47; Campbellsville (Ky.) 33; Cumberland (Tenn.) 22; Lindenwood (Mo.) 20; Northwood (Fla.) 18; Northwestern Ohio 15; Biola (Calif.) 8; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 7; Georgetown (Ky.) 1.
2011 Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll - Final Rating
|
RANK
|
LAST
WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
2011
RECORD |
TOTAL
POINTS |
|
1
|
1
|
Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) (11)
|
18-4
|
312
|
|
2
|
2
|
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) (1)
|
20-3
|
302
|
|
3
|
3
|
Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.)
|
23-5
|
288
|
|
4
|
4
|
Azusa Pacific University (Calif.)
|
19-4
|
281
|
|
5
|
5
|
Oklahoma Christian University
|
17-2
|
274
|
|
6
|
6
|
Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.)
|
19-3
|
265
|
|
7
|
7
|
Concordia University (Calif.)
|
14-7
|
252
|
|
8
|
8
|
Brenau University (Ga.)
|
10-7
|
241
|
|
9
|
9
|
SCAD Savannah (Ga.)
|
10-2
|
231
|
|
10
|
10
|
Vanguard University (Calif.)
|
10-10
|
222
|
|
11
|
11
|
Southern Nazarene University (Okla.)
|
14-6
|
208
|
|
12
|
12
|
William Carey University (Miss.)
|
14-6
|
203
|
|
13
|
13
|
Lee University (Tenn.)
|
9-5
|
192
|
|
14
|
14
|
Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.)
|
19-1
|
176
|
|
15
|
15
|
Shorter University (Ga.)
|
11-4
|
173
|
|
16
|
16
|
Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho)
|
6-14
|
155
|
|
17
|
16
|
Indiana Wesleyan University
|
21-1
|
154
|
|
18
|
18
|
Martin Methodist College (Tenn.)
|
15-5
|
145
|
|
19
|
19
|
Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.)
|
13-5
|
139
|
|
20
|
20
|
Oklahoma Baptist University
|
9-10
|
112
|
|
21
|
22
|
Campbellsville University (Ky.)
|
14-5
|
111
|
|
22
|
21
|
Saint Thomas University (Fla.)
|
9-9
|
108
|
|
23
|
23
|
William Jewell College (Mo.)
|
17-7
|
96
|
|
24
|
24
|
Webber International University (Fla.)
|
12-8
|
79
|
|
25
|
25
|
Belhaven University (Miss.)
|
14-3
|
68
|
Others receiving votes: Westmont (Calif.) 49; Milligan (Tenn.) 49; McKendree (Ill.) 27; Indiana Southeast 26; Robert Morris (Ill.) 18; Cumberlands (Ky.) 16; Taylor (Ind.) 6; Marian (Ind.) 3; Xavier (La.) 3; Georgetown (Ky.) 1; Spring Hill (Ala.) 1; Northwood (Fla.) 1; Mobile (Ala.) 1; Northwestern Ohio 1.
