EDMOND, Okla. – Southern Arkansas Men's Tennis saw its season come to an end on Saturday afternoon as the top-seeded Muleriders fell to (2) Northwest Missouri 4-2 in the Central Region Final from Edmond Center Court. The Muleriders' 2021 campaign concludes at 13-6 overall and as the #17 ranked team in the country; the highest national ranking for the program in its young NCAA Era.
 
Southern Arkansas dropped the doubles point as the No. 14-ranked pair of Franco Oliva and Andrea Zamurri defeated the No. 9-ranked duo of Sander Jans and Sofiane Bah 6-4, before Ole Valkyser and Gabriel Breitenmoser suffered a 6-3 loss to Agustin Velasco and Fabien Calloud to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead.
 
The Northwest Missouri lead increased to 2-0 with a win at No. 2, but the Muleriders found the scoreboard as No. 11 Jans dismissed No. 3 Andrea Zamurri 6-2, 6-2. SAU lost at line No. 3, but saw Valkyser win at No. 4 with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 showing against the Bearcats' Fillipo Piranomote. With NWMSU leading 3-2, Southern Arkansas needed to claim the final two singles lines to advance to the national tournament, but were edged at No. 5 as Bah came up just short in a hard fought 6-4, 1-6, 4-6 match to Martin Sanchez.
 
Of SAU's 19 matches played this spring, a dozen saw the Muleriders compete against teams that earned berths into the NCAA postseason. Seven of those matches came against Harding, Northwest Missouri and Washburn; all of which spent time nationally ranked or receiving votes this season.
 
Southern Arkansas opened the season with a 6-1 win over Southwest Baptist on January 29 and then claimed a 4-2 victory against SBU on March 5. The Bearcats are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region. Delta State, the No. 4 seed in the South Region, edged SAU 4-3 on January 31. Moreso, the Muleriders matched up with Cameron, the South Central Region's No. 1 seed, and Midwestern State, the South Central Region's No. 2 seed on the same day in early March.