AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University tennis teams made program history on Wednesday afternoon, as both the men's and women's teams were selected to the 2022 NAIA Tennis Championships for the first time in Ave Maria history. The nationally ranked Gyrene tennis teams will now head to Mobile, Alabama later this month to play on the national stage.

The field consists of 14 automatic berths, including one host berth, and 10 at-large selections. Automatic qualification is given to conference and unaffiliated grouping tournament champions. For the fifth consecutive year, at-large teams were determined by the NAIA Tennis National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council (NAC) Rules and Ratings Committee, the president of the Tennis Coaches Association and two at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.

The Ave Maria women were one of three teams to earn their first selection into the national tournament, with all three of those teams (AMU, Southeastern, and St. Thomas) coming from The Sun Conference. On the men's side, the Gyrenes are one of only two teams to make their tournament debut in 2022, joining Oakland City University from Indiana. In both fields, The Sun Conference is the leading league in bids earned, with five women's teams and four men's teams headed to Mobile.

Ave Maria's women earned their bid partially due to two wins over national top ten teams, coming against fellow national qualifiers SCAD-Savannah and Middle Georgia State. The Gyrenes earned the No. 16 seed in the tournament, and will open play against 17th-seeded University of Saint Katherine from California. The Firebirds are making their second consecutive appearance in the national tournament, and qualified as the champions of the Golden State Athletic Conference.

On the men's side, the Gyrenes played one of the most difficult schedules in the NAIA, and finished the regular season as the runner-up in The Sun Conference with wins over fellow qualifiers Southeastern and Coastal Georgia. Ave Maria's efforts earned the No. 17 seed in the tournament, with a first round date against No. 16 Cumberland. Cumberland University is a fellow at-large qualifier coming out of the Mid-South Conference. The Phoenix will be making their seventh trip to nationals, albeit their first since 2019. 

The championships are scheduled to begin May 17, with the women's teams playing first at 8:30 a.m. at the Mobile Tennis Center. The men's teams will follow with matches beginning at 1:00 p.m. For both teams, a win in the first round would send the Gyrenes into the round of 16, where defending national champion Georgia Gwinnett awaits.