By Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
The No. 39 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men’s tennis team secured its first ever New Jersey Athletic Conference championship Saturday with a 5-0 victory against The College of New Jersey at the Warhawk Outdoor Tennis Complex.
The Warhawks (21-2 overall) also clinch the league’s first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week.
UW-W, the NJAC West Division champion for the second straight year, won all three doubles matches to take a 3-0 advantage against the Lions (13-3).
Niclas Goltz and Ryan Mitchell earned the first team point with an 8-4 triumph at the third position. John Zakowski and Alex Gray were next on the board with an 8-4 victory at the first position.
Rory Calabria and Cole Lindwall made it 3-0 thanks to an 8-5 win at the second position.
Zakowski posted a 6-4, 6-0 triumph at No. 1 singles to increase the UW-W lead to four before Gray sent the match to decision with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 5 singles.
Two of the remaining four singles matches were in a third set.
UW-Whitewater will make its 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last 15 seasons. The team will find out its regional draw Monday via press release on NCAA.com.
