ZN
Zane Navratil
  • accounting
  • Class of 2018
  • Racine, Wis.

Racine's Navratil Earns Spot on 2018 UW-Whitewater Men's Tennis Roster

2018 Jan 23

Zane Navratil, a native of Racine, WI, and graduate of The Prairie School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's tennis team, which begins its 2018 spring season this Thursday, Jan. 25.

Navratil, a senior at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in accounting.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's tennis team begins its quest toward a 12th consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance this week as it kicks off the spring season with duals against a pair of scholarship opponents.

The Warhawks, ranked 38th in the latest Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III National Team Rankings, will head to Rockford, Ill., Thursday to face Division I Northern Illinois and Cardinal Stritch out of the NAIA.

UW-Whitewater played its non-traditional season in the fall, hosting the Warhawk Fall Invite Sept. 8-9 before heading to the ITA Midwest Regional Championships Sept. 29-30.

Four Warhawks reached the Round of 32 in singles play at the ITA Regional, including senior Zane Navratil (Racine, Wis./The Prairie School), who reached the Round of 16, where he was outlasted in a three-set match. Senior Matt Zurowski (West Bend, Wis./East) and junior Brandon Dechter (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel Catholic) combined to reach the Round of 16 in doubles before being bested by top-seeded Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.).

Sophomore Zach Wood (Downers Grove, Ill./South) led UW-Whitewater in singles wins with a 6-3 mark, and Navratil was close behind with a 5-2 record. Dechter and Zurowski collected five wins in six doubles matches played together, and sophomore Matthew Primozic (Elkhart Lake, Wis./Plymouth) matched their victory total with a 5-3 mark in doubles play.

Navratil and senior Grant Thompson (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) will serve as captains this season for the Warhawks, who posted a 15-12 record in dual matches last season reached the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

Navratil finished the 2016-17 campaign ranked 21st in the Central Region by the ITA in singles and 10th in doubles with junior Jimmy Engelhart (Brookfield, Wis./East). Navratil finished with 11 singles wins and 15 doubles victories, and enters the spring with 55 singles wins in his career.

Thompson finished last season at No. 19 in the ITA's Central Region singles rankings. He owns a combined 53 singles and doubles victories in two-plus seasons at UW-Whitewater.

Zurowski rounds out the team's senior class. He is 33-15 for his career in doubles play and 39-26 in singles matches.

Dechter, Engelhart and Brett Conard (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) comprise the Warhawks' junior class. Engelhart recorded a combined 30 wins in singles and doubles last season, and Dechter tallied 18. Conard compiled a combined mark of 8-6 in 2016-17, his first season with the team.

Primozic, Wood and Lucas Monterroso (Montevideo, Uruguay/Colegio Jesus Maria) are each in their second season with the program as sophomores. Wood led UW-Whitewater in doubles wins with a 22-11 record last season and added a 16-10 singles mark. Primozic totaled 10 combined victories, and Monterroso, who also played for the Warhawks' men's soccer team in the fall, led the team in singles wins with a 17-10 record last season.

Freshman Robert Rider (Annapolis, Md./South River) joined the team in the fall and amassed a 5-5 combined record.

UW-Whitewater's 2018 spring schedule include five duals against fellow nationally ranked opponents - No. 16 Gustavus Adolphus (March 11), No. 26 Kalamazoo (April 8), No. 6 Washington-St. Louis (April 13), No. 9 Chicago (April 15) and No. 39 Coe (April 29).

The Warhawks open their home schedule Feb. 3 as they host Concordia Wisconsin at Premier Tennis and Fitness in Janesville, where the team competes indoors.

UW-Whitewater's annual spring break trip is scheduled for March 24-28 in Hilton Head Island, S.C. The team is scheduled to face Carleton (Minn.) on March 24, Erskine (S.C.) and St. Olaf (Minn.) on March 26 and DePauw (Ind.) on March 28.

The postseason is slated for May 11-13 with the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament and May 21-26 with the NCAA Championships in Claremont, Calif.

Head coach Frank Barnes is in his 16th year as head coach of the program. He has led the Warhawks to ten 20-win seasons in the last 12 years as well as the team's 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.