KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 24-team field for the 45th Annual UTR Sports NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship. For the second consecutive year, the Marian women's tennis team will be one of the 24 teams in the field, earning an automatic bid to the NAIA Championship. 

The event will be held at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala., from May 12-16, for the 22nd-consecutive year (the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19).

The field consists of 13 automatic berths and 11 at-large selections. Automatic qualifications are granted to conference tournament champions, while at-large teams were determined by the NAIA Tennis National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of coaches and administrators from around the country. 

Marian is 16-6 overall on the season, and will be the No. 10 seed in the NAIA Tournament. Marian's first opponent will be the No. 23 seed, William Woods. 

The Knights earned an automatic bid to the NAIA Championship field, winning both the Crossroads League Regular Season and Tournament Championships. 

Keiser (Fla.) enters the championship as the No. 1 seed and will look for its second Red Banner. 

The Bees of SCAD Savannah (Ga.) and the Blue Raiders of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) are tied for the most tournament appearances in the field with 21. Louisiana Christian, Goshen (Ind.) and Stanton (Calif.) are each attending the tennis national championship for the first time in their program's history.

Marian and Goshen are the lone teams from the Crossroads League to qualify for the tournament. 

The Sun Conference and the Red River Athletic Conference are tied for the most representation at the event with four teams apiece.

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