INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Indiana Wesleyan University men’s tennis is headed to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in five years after defeating No. 1-seed Marian (Ind.) 5-1 on Saturday to win the Crossroads League Tournament championship.

The Wildcats’ championship victory earns them the Crossroads League automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament in May in Mobile, Alabama. The Wildcats last advanced to the national tournament in the 2009-10 season.

Indiana Wesleyan entered the postseason tournament as the No. 2-seed with a 7-1 record in the Crossroads League while Marian was the top seed with an unblemished 8-0 mark. Marian defeated Indiana Wesleyan 6-3 in the season opener for IWU on August 26.

The loss for Marian was the first of the season for the Knights as they fall to 11-1. Indiana Wesleyan has won 10 straight to improve to 11-2 in the fall season.

Indiana Wesleyan opened the contest with wins in two of three doubles matches. Kyle Johnson (SR/East Moline, Ill.) and Brandon Dubuque (JR/Marion, Ind.) won 8-5 at No. 1-doubles while Adam Wroughton (SR/Schereville, Ind.) and Joel Montgomery (FR/Powell, Ohio) earned an 8-3 win at No. 3-doubles. Gavin White (SO/Lakeland, Fla.) and Leonard Mathews (JR/Merrillville, Ind.) lost 8-4 at No. 2-doubles.

With the two wins in doubles, the Wildcats needed wins in three of the six singles matches. IWU did just that with wins in the first three completed matches for the 5-1 win. The final three matches were not concluded as they had no bearing on the team result.

Johnson won 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1-doubles and White took the point 6-4, 7-5 at No. 2-doubles. Montgomery pulled out the fifth point with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 4-singles.

Indiana Wesleyan finishes the fall season with an 11-2 record. IWU will play matches during the spring season in preparation for the NAIA National Tournament in May.