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NCAA Division III Championship Individual Qualifiers Release
The No. 39 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's tennis team begins play Saturday in the Regional Round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Warhawks (21-2 overall) will face the winner of the first-round match between Kalamazoo (Mich.) and Nazareth (Pa.), which is slated for Friday at 10 a.m. Central Time (11 a.m. Eastern).
Saturday's second-round match will begin at 11 a.m. Central Time (12 p.m. Eastern).
The winner of Saturday's second-round duals will square off in the regional title match Sunday at 11 a.m. Central Time (12 p.m. Eastern).
UW-Whitewater punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament by winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship last Saturday at the Warhawk Outdoor Tennis Complex in Whitewater. UW-W, the West Division champion for the second straight season, topped East Division winner The College of New Jersey by a 5-0 score for the conference's first-ever automatic bid.
The Warhawks have now reached the NCAA Tournament in 13 of the last 15 seasons. UW-W is ranked 39th in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association entering Saturday's match.
John Zakowski (Green Bay, Wis./Southwest) leads UW-Whitewater as the team's No. 1 singles player. The 2021 ITA Midwest Regional singles champion and ITA Cup qualifier, Zakowski was announced Wednesday as one of 32 qualifiers for the NCAA Championship singles draw. The NJAC West Division Player of the Year enters this weekend's regional as the team leader in wins with a 22-8 record.
Cole Lindwall (Cottage Grove, Wis./Monona Grove), the ITA Midwest singles runner-up in the fall, owns a 21-12 mark entering NCAA play. He joined Zakowski on the NJAC All-West Division Singles team.
Rory Calabria (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove), who rejoined the program for the spring season, was also named to the NJAC All-West Division Singles team. He begins the NCAA Tournament with a 10-4 record, including a 6-4 mark at the third position.
Alex Gray (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) and
Niclas Goltz (Freiburg, Germany/Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasium) lead the back half of the singles lineup. Goltz, the NJAC West Division Rookie of the Year, is 14-2 since joining the team in January, including a 9-1 mark at the Nos. 4 and 5 positions combined. Gray is 13-7 overall with a 10-4 record in dual action.
Brendan Pietila (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead) begins the tournament with an 18-4 record, including 7-2 at the No. 6 slot.
Zakowski and Gray headline the Warhawks' doubles slate. The ITA Midwest Regional champions and NCAA doubles draw qualifiers are 24-8 playing together in 2021-22, including 16-3 in dual matches. The pair was joined on the All-NJAC West Doubles team by Calabria and Lindwall, who who are 14-2 playing together this spring.
Goltz and
Ryan Mitchell (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) round out the doubles lineup. The pair is 12-4 for the year, including 8-3 at the third position in the lineup.
UW-Whitewater last played Kalamazoo (13-7) on May 1, defeating the Hornets by a 5-4 score in Kalamazoo, Mich. The Hornets are automatic qualifiers out of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
Nazareth (12-4) also earned an automatic bid by winning th Empire 8. The Warhawks have never faced the Golden Flyers.
The other side of the regional bracket includes No. 2 Case Western Reserve, Ohio Northern and Grove City (Pa.).
