The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has received a bid to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championship tournament. The Warhawks, making their third consecutive appearance, defeated UW-Eau Claire 5-0 on Friday in Saint Peter, Minnesota. The Warhawks lost to Gustavus Adolphus 5-0 on Saturday. Gustavus advances to play Luther while the Warhawks season has come to an end. Their overall record is 22-9 and 17-6 against Division III opponents. UW-Whitewater NCAA tournament web page
NCAA III men's tournament bracket
UW-W is 21-8. UW-Eau Claire is 24-9, and Gustavus is 25-8. The other half of the bracket matches Luther College, 36-5, and Concordia University (WI), 14-10 in the first round Friday, with the winner playing the University of Texas-Tyler, 19-6, in the other semifinal Saturday. Gustavus is ranked nineteenth in the Division III poll compiled by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and UT-Tyler is nineteenth.
Whitewater has met three of the regional teams this year. The Warhawks lost to Gustavus 9-0 February 28 in Saint Peter, they lost to Luther 5-4 March 23 in Florida, and UW-W beat UW-EC 5-4 April 11 in Whitewater.
UW-W had a first round bye in 2007, then beat Carthage College 5-4 in a regional semifinal, and fell to host Gustavus 6-0 in the regional final. Last year, after another first round bye, the Warhawks fell to Texas-Tyler 5-1 in the regional semifinal.
In addition to the three years of team competition, UW-W has also had individual qualifiers for national competition seven times (1966, 1967, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1988).
Coach Frank Barnes has guided UW-Whitewater to five consecutive twenty-plus win seasons. Barnes is in his seventh year as the men's coach. He also coaches UW-W women's tennis, which also earned a berth in the NCAA III tournament, and will also be playing in a regional hosted by Gustavus.
UW-W is led by senior Alex Lowe. Lowe has won more matches, singles and doubles combined, than any men's tennis player in school history (168). He has played at the number one or two position all four years at Whitewater and is 18-14 at number one this year. The rest of the lineup will come from Mike Harmatys (15-10), Danny Glinert (19-11), Tim Moller (20-12), Kelvin Caiati (22-8), Alex Mory (20-9), and Will Krieger (11-2). Two of the doubles pairings are Lowe/Caiati (21-8), and Glinert and Erich Palecek (22-9), with the third including Moller and Mory (6-2) in a group of nine pairings used in that slot.
For additional information: Frank Barnes, UW-W coach