Eighth-ranked Westmont has a first-round bye in this week’s 59th Annual NAIA Men’s Tournament National Championship in Mobile, Alabama. As the number eight seed, the Warriors will open play against the winner of the Graceland (Iowa) / Sioux Falls (S.D.) first-round match on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.
Tenth-ranked Graceland (12-5), which competes in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, earned an automatic berth to nationals by winning a tournament of unaffiliated teams. Sioux Falls (11-7) earned a spot in the 24-team national tournament by winning the Great Plains Athletic Conference championship. Neither Graceland nor Sioux Falls shared a common opponent with the Warriors in 2010.
The Warriors are making their fourteenth appearance at the national tournament and their third since the institution of the team-play format in 2000. The Warrior’s last visit to the national tournament was in 2003 when they lost 5-2 in the second round to Embry-Riddle (Fla.).
Graceland has been a part of the national tournament field in nine of the last 11 years. In 2009, the Yellowjackets earned a 9-0 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan in the first round, before falling 5-3 to Vanguard in the second round.
Sioux Falls is making their fifth appearance in the last eight years, the last of which was in 2008. Sioux Falls suffered a 9-0 loss to Graceland in the first round of the 2008 tournament.
If Westmont should win their second round game, the Warriors would likely match up with number one ranked and top-seeded Fresno Pacific (18-1) in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Sunbirds also have a first round bye and will take on the winner of the Tennessee Wesleyan / Xavier (La.) match-up in the second round.
