FLORENCE, S.C. – The Francis Marion University softball and men’s and women’s tennis teams left Florence on Monday to travel to Houston, Texas, for the NCAA Division II Spring National Championships Festival and their respective finals competition.

Updated results, brackets, and live video can be found at www.ncaa.com.

The Patriots women’s tennis squad owns a program-best 22-2 record after winning two matches in Florence this past week to advance to the round of Sweet 16. The seventh-ranked Patriots will face sixth-ranked Abilene Christian University (26-3) in a first-round match at 9 a.m. (Eastern Time) at Houston’s Memorial Park.

FMU is making its first trip to the national finals, while the Wildcats have advanced to the Sweet 16 each of the past 12 years. Abilene Christian’s three losses were to a pair of Division I opponents (Eastern Kentucky and Rice) and to Armstrong Atlantic State University. AASU beat the Wildcats 8-1, while Francis Marion lost to the Pirates 8-1 in the regular season and 5-1 in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament title match.

The FMU men’s tennis team will play seventh-ranked Cameron University (21-3) on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. (eastern) at Homer Ford Park. The Patriots, 18-5 and ranked 20th nationally, are making their fourth trip to the Sweet 16, but the first since 2001. FMU has never advanced to the quarterfinal round (Elite Eight).

Cameron, located in Lawton, Okla., and a member of the Lone Star Conference, lost only to the Universities of Oklahoma, Texas-Arlington, and West Florida during the 2008 season. 

The tennis competition is single elimination.

The 38-14 Patriot softball team will play Ferris State University (34-16) on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (eastern) in the second of four first-round games at the 27th annual NCAA Division II Softball Championships. The eight-team double-elimination tournament will be played at Houston’s Memorial Park.

Francis Marion is playing in its first-ever NCAA Tournament, while Ferris State is in its sixth national tournament and making its third-ever finals appearances. The Bulldogs are members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference, and won the Great Lakes Regional this past weekend with four consecutive shutouts.

FMU’s 38 victories are third most in team history behind the 1986 squad that was 40-11 and the 1987 team that went 42-4 and lost in the NAIA national championship game.