Four League Tennis Teams Among NAIA Top 25
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The NAIA released the Men’s Tennis Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 poll on Tuesday evening and among those listed were four teams from The Sun Conference.
Defending league champion Embry-Riddle achieved a No. 2 ranking with 241 points. The Eagles, who finished the 2011 campaign as the national runner-up, return the top-rated individual in junior Chris Freeman and the highest-ranked doubles team of senior Adrian Bayh and sophomore Patrick Besch.
St. Thomas, who finished second in the conference race last season, is ranked 15th after closing out 2011 in the No. 17 spot. The Bobcats advanced to the second round of the 2011 NAIA National Tournament and will be led by senior Andrew Rifkin who is ranked 34th nationally.
Webber International jumped seven spots to No. 18 with 108 points after taking fourth place in the league race a year ago. SCAD Savannah, last year’s third place team, got 86 points to move up from No. 22 to No. 20. Northwood and Warner are listed among those schools receiving votes.
Defending national champion Fresno Pacific received 10 first-place votes to top the poll with 250 points, while Embry-Riddle Oklahoma Christian, Auburn Montgomery and Azusa Pacific rounded out the top five teams. The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groupings.