For the fourth time since the program's first year of NCAA competition in 2018-19, Southern Arkansas Men's Tennis is regional bound. The Muleriders, after a 13-7 regular season, received an at-large berth into the Central Region Tournament and as the No. 3 seed will battle (2) Ouachita with the winner advancing to the National Round of 16 from Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida; a site visited by the Muleriders in 2019 and 2022.
The Muleriders and the Tigers, fellow MIAA-GAC South Division members, meet in Arkadelphia on Monday, May 13 at 2 p.m. in the region's second matchup. Top-seeded Washburn, champions of the MIAA-GAC, play host to (4) Harding in Topeka. Both match winners move on to the Sunshine State.
Southern Arkansas and Ouachita met in Arkadelphia on March 26 with the host edging SAU 4-3 for its fourth-consecutive victory over the Muleriders. SAU's last win against OUA was back on April 6, 2021 in a 4-2 decision in Magnolia. Since 2019, Ouachita leads the series 4-3. The two are tied at 2-2 in Arkadelphia with Ouachita claiming the last two matchups in Clark County. SAU earned a trip to the 2019 National Round of 16 with a 4-1 win over Southeastern Oklahoma indoors at the Ward Tennis Center.
All four Central Region teams are ranked inside the ITA's DII Top 50 (As of May 1 rankings). The Muleriders are No. 33 in DII with Ouachita four spots ahead at No. 29. Washburn is the highest ranked team at No. 9 nationally. Harding rates at No. 41. SAU beat #6 Washburn 4-3 on April 21 three and a half weeks after beating #43 Harding 7-0.
The Muleriders also matched up with other current regional-bound teams earlier in the campaign. SAU lost 5-2 to South Central Region (2) Midwestern State on February 16 in Arkadelphia, but beat South Central Region (3) UT-Permian Basin 4-3 two days later in Dallas. Southern Arkansas contested tight matches against the other two South Central Region teams in top-seeded UT-Tyler and (4) Lubbock Christian. The Muleriders dropped a close 4-3 match to West Region (2) Hawaii Pacific on March 18 in Dallas.