May 12, 2008

DAY 1 RESULTS

MOBILE, Ala--Domination was the theme of the day in the opening round of the 2008 NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship as eight unseeded qualifiers stayed alive to play the top-eight seeds in second-round action Tuesday.

 

After tennis fans witnessed only one shutout in women's action earlier in the day, half of the eight men's matches ended in 9-0 decisions, with another ending 8-1.

 

SCAD beat Malone (Ohio) 9-0, Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) defeated Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 9-0, Graceland (Iowa) beat Sioux Falls (S.D.) 9-0 and Bethel (Tenn.) defeated Bethany (Kan.) 9-0. Union (Ky.) ousted host-team Mobile (Ala.) by an 8-1 score, with only a comeback by the Rams' Ale Vial preventing a 5^th 9-0 score on the day.

 

In other action, Shorter (Ga.) took five-of-six singles matches to best Oklahoma City 6-3, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) took two-of-three doubles matches to best Lindenwood (Mo.) 6-3 and Berry (Ga.) defeated Aquinas (Mich.) by a 7-2 margin.

While the teams cruised on day one, they will face a much tougher challenge, with the eight seeded teams in the tournament awaiting action Tuesday after receiving byes from opening round play.

Lewis-Clark advances to face top-seeded Auburn-Montgomery, Union will battle Concordia (8), Bethany will take on California Baptist (5), Point Loma Nazarene will face Azusa Pacific (4), Shorter plays Fresno Pacific (3), Graceland matches up with Vanguard (6), SCAD draws Lindsey Wilson (7) and Berry will battle second-seeded Embry-Riddle.