Oct. 15, 2007

MOBILE, Ala. -- In 2006, Mislav Hizak became the first men's player in the 21-year history of the ITA National Small College tournament to repeat as ITA "Super Bowl" champion. On Sunday, the Embry-Riddle senior extended his impressive "Super Bowl" title streak to three as he defeated Concordia's (N.Y.) Alex Grubin 6-3, 6-4 in the championship match at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.

"This is one of the best matches I've seen Mislav play," ERAU head coach Dave Paschal said. "Mislav knew it was going to be the toughest match he's ever played here, but he came out and dictated play the whole time. He stayed on top of Grubin and had a very solid serve. It was a phenomenal level of tennis, something you could see on the professional tour."

Hizak's "Super Bowl" title has earned him a wild card entry into the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 1-4. This tournament is the second of three national championships for Division I tennis and offers the small college participants the opportunity to become champions for all divisions of collegiate tennis.

In his first trip to Columbus in 2005, Hizak made his first appearance at the NCAA Division I Indoor Nationals. He won his first round match 6-3, 6-4 against top seed and defending champion Ryler DeHeart of the University of Illinois, marking the third time in four years that the No. 1 seed lost in the opening round. Hizak became the first NAIA player to defeat a top seed and was the first small college player to advance to the second round since Auburn-Montgomery's Sebastien Fitz achieved that feat in 2002.