DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ? The Embry-Riddle men's tennis team maintained its unbeaten streak against conference opponents as the Eagles blanked Savannah College of Art and Design 5-0 to capture the 2009 Sun Conference Tournament title on Saturday. With the win, the Eagles earned an automatic berth in the NAIA National Championship, which will be held in Mobile, Ala., May 12-16.

The Eagles won the NAIA Region XIV tournament in each of the last five seasons. Now with the elimination of regional tournaments by the NAIA, the Eagles can now add a conference tournament title to their impressive postseason resume.

The Eagles began the contest with a sweep in doubles play. Istvan Bolgar and Peter Francis were the first ERAU duo off the court as they posted an 8-3 win over Mihai Draganescu and Felix Missal at the third doubles spot. Adrian Bayh and Charlie Rice followed with an 8-4 win over Willy Frei and Kaan Yaylali at the No. 2 position to put the Blue and Gold up 2-0.

At No. 1 doubles, the top-ranked pair of Carlos Bes Comeras and Jan Hoekzema went ahead of SCAD's Jan Menzen and Dima Chiriacov 6-3. The SCAD tandem battled back to make the score 7-6, but Bes Comeras and Hoekzema held serve to win the match 8-6 and put the Eagles in position where they needed only two singles victories to claim the tournament title.

Francis struggled in the opening set of his match against Frei at No. 4 singles, but he showed why he was an All-Conference selection and fought back to take the first set 7-5 before posting a decisive 6-1 win in the second set to extend the Eagle advantage to 4-0.

Hoekzema, another All-Conference performer, easily won the first set of his match against Missal 6-1. His 6-2 victory in the second set came just moments after Francis' win to clinch the match for the Eagles.

The Eagles, currently ranked third in the nation, will go into the national tournament with a 16-2 overall record. SCAD falls to 8-5 with the loss.