CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Three Christopher Newport University men's tennis players are set to embark on their first ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Singles and Doubles Championships as senior Scotty Hunter will play in the Singles event while Ryan Macy and Alec Strause are scheduled to play in the Doubles bracket. Action begins Friday from The Champions Club Tennis Complex at Rivermont Park, starting at 11:00 a.m.

Hunter will be the first to play for CNU as he will take on top-seeded Ethan Hillis from Washington University (Mo.). Draws were released late Wednesday night with the Captains' senior slotted on the top line taking on the Bears' two-time All-American. In doubles, Macy and Strause will face off against Jeffrey Chen and Adam Tzeng of Brandeis when the doubles tournament begins at 5:00 p.m.

Should Hunter advanced beyond the first round, he would take on the winner of the match between Anupreeth Coramutla (Brandeis) and Jeremy Yuan (Chicago). Second round matchups would not be played before 2:30 p.m. but will also be finished on the first day. 

Hunter is just the second Captain to qualify for the singles national championship in nearly a decade as he joins Dominic Lacombe who played in the 2018 version of the event. For his efforts on the top line this season, Hunter earned first team All-Conference honors with five victories, tying for the team lead. Hunter is ranked eighth among singles competitors in the Atlantic South region. 

He will face stiff competition as he is slated to take on the top-seeded competitor in the field from WashU. Hillis is 13-0 this season and 51-10 for his career after earning ITA All-American accolades in each his sophomore and junior campaigns. 

In doubles play, Macy and Strause were also first team All-Conference selections and enter the postseason ranked No. 4 in the Atlantic South region. The duo are just the fourth tandem to every qualify for the national championships and only the second pair to do so under current Director of Tennis Eric Christiansen. Strause and Macy won four of their last five matches with the lone setback coming in a tiebreaker (8-7 (1) to Mary Washington's top-ranked team. In that stretch, the CNU tandem defeated second-ranked Thomas and James Yu from Johns Hopkins and fellow national qualifiers from Southern Virginia Marcos Dias and Daniel Blonquist. 

Macy and Strause will face a pairing from Brandeis that has also won four of their last five appearances with their lone loss coming to another NCAA Championships qualified team. Chen and Tzeng are 4-4 at No. 1 doubles this season and are ranked the No. 4 tandem in the Northeast region. 

The winning pair will advance to the Quarterfinals against either the #4-seeded Williams pairing or an upset-minded Gustavus Adolphus duo. The Quarterfinal matches would be played on Saturday, May 29 not before 4:30 p.m.

UPDATE: Court assignments were released Thursday; Hunter and Hillis will matchup on Court 8. 

Live video will be available from selected courts and can be found by clicking here. A full recap of all the Captains' action will be available at CNUsports.com following play this weekend.