No. 11 Men's Tennis draws Hastings College in NAIA First Round

KANSAS CITY -- The Shorter University men's tennis team will square off against unranked Hastings College in the first round of the 2011 NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship beginning on May 17 at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala.

The NAIA announced the first round pairings of the 60th Annual Men's Tennis National Championship on Tuesday evening. 24 teams will take the court in the single elimination tournament which begins next Tuesday.

The 11th-ranked Hawks (12-4) are making their 10th appearance in the national tournament and are hoping to improve upon their ninth place finish at last year's event. Shorter received an at-large bid into this year's national championship after finishing as the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament runner-up.

Hastings College, located in Hastings, Neb., is making its second trip to the national tournament and first since 2000.

The Broncos (13-9) made the tournament field after winning the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a 5-4 upset of top seed Nebraska Wesleyan in the title match. Hastings is 0-1 all-time in national tournament play.

Shorter and Hastings will take the court in Match 6 at 10 a.m. EST on May 17. The winner will advance into the second round to take on No. 6 seed Westmont College out of California at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18.