No. 38 Sakinis to Face No. 52 Ostojic in NCAA First Round

HANOVER, N.H. – With the first round of competition starting in less than 24 hours, the draws for the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles Championship were released on Tuesday.

Junior Dovydas Sakinis, who was ranked No. 38 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings released on May 1, will take on No. 52 Tin Ostojic of Wichita State in the first round at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Ostojic, a junior from Zagreb, Croatia, earned one of the 48 at-large bids to the championship after finishing the regular season with a 21-8 record and a 6-3 mark against nationally ranked competition, playing each and every match at the No. 1 position. He and teammate Tomislav Gregurovic are also among the 32 doubles teams selected to the field.

Sakinis is the first Dartmouth men's tennis player to qualify for singles in over 20 years and is the third in program history. He spent the entirety of 2015 in the rankings, starting at No. 65 and getting as highly-ranked as 54th by the time the regular season came to a close. He is currently No. 38, which is the highest he has ever been ranked.

Fresh off being named the Class of 1948 Scholar-Athlete at Dartmouth's annual Celebration of Athletic Excellence, Sakinis went 17-6 at No. 1 in 2015 and defeated five ranked opponents, including three that were higher on the list than he at the time. He was also named the Ivy League Player of the Year and a first-team singles and doubles selection for his performances against conference opponents.