With the win, Union advances to the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Mobile, Ala., on May 18-22. This is the fourth consecutive trip to nationals for the Bulldogs, who have advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of the previous three appearances.

Union defeated Reinhardt (Ga.) 5-0 in the semifinal round as it extended its win streak to 32 matches versus conference opponents.

Union 5, Tennessee Wesleyan 2 (Championship Game)

In a match that featured not only the top two seeds but also a pair of NAIA Top 20 squads, Union and Tennessee Wesleyan slugged it out with top-seeded Union pulling out the 5-2 decision.

Union swept the doubles matches, but it was not easy. Nicolas Ernst (Rietheim, Germany) and Pierre Vernin (Le Coteau, France) trailed Cody Gaby and Giovanni Santos 7-6 when they broke their serve to even the match at 7-7. The match went into a tiebreak, and Ernst and Vernin trailed 5-3. However, the Union duo fought back to win the tiebreak 7-5 to take the match 9-8.

Kyle Shilling (Knoxville, Iowa) and Lucas Oliveira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) had their doubles match go to a tiebreak also. And like Ernst and Vernin, they trailed 5-3 to Neal Baldwin and Juan Estevez before winning the tiebreak 7-5 for the 9-8 victory.

Bartos Micher (Junginen, Germany) and Alvaro Vargas (Manizales, Columbia) won their doubles match 8-3.

In singles, Vargas posted a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Baldwin, while Micher recorded the championship-clinching decision with a 6-4, 6-4 win versus Santos.

Union 5, Reinhardt 0 (Semifinal Round)

Union cruised to the championship match with a 5-0 blanking of fourth-seeded Reinhardt.

The Bulldogs won all three doubles matches by the identical score of 8-2. Micher won his singles match 6-0, 6-0 with Vargas posting a 6-0, 6-1 decision.