May 16, 2008

Tulsa, Oklahoma - The top four seeds advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships as the men took center stage on Friday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of The University of Tulsa.

The ladies opened tournament play on Thursday in the round of 16, while action for the men got underway today.

The Georgia-Pepperdine and Mississippi-North Carolina match-ups kicked things off today. Georgia captured a 4-1 victory, as the only loss for the Bulldogs came at the No. 1 position as fourth-ranked Travis Helgeson was upset by 37th ranked Bassam Beidas 6-2, 6-4. Beidas moved up in the lineup from No. 2 as usual No. 1 Andre Begemann was unable to play.

Ole Miss claimed a 4-2 victory over No. 12 seed North Carolina. The nation's No. 1-ranked Virginia Cavaliers remained unbeaten at 31-0 with a 4-0 victory over 16th-seeded Michigan.

The 8-9 match-up featured Tennessee and Baylor, as the Bears pulled the slight upset with a 4-1 victory. Tennessee captured the doubles point, whle Baylor won at the Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 positions.

No. 7-seed Texas took care of No. 10 Florida with a 4-0 victory. The tightest battle came between Big 10 Conference rivals Ohio State and Illinois. The Buckeyes, ranked second nationally, held on for a 4-3 victory, capturing its third win over the Illini this season. Tied 3-3, the OSU-Illinois match came down to the No. 3 position as OSU's Justin Kronauge and Marc Spicijaric of Illinois. Kronauge won the first set, 6-4, while Spicijaric won the second set 7-6 in a 7-0 tie-breaker. Kronauge gave the Buckeyes the victory with a 7-3 victory in yet another tie-breaker.

The win gave second-ranked OSU its 24th straight victory, improving its season record to 35-1.

UCLA, the No. 3 seed, made it look pretty easy with a 4-0 victory over Florida State. The final match to conclude saw No. 6 USC get a 4-2 victory over Oklahoma State.

The match-ups for Sunday's men's quarterfinal round feature two matches between conference rivals, as Georgia and Mississippi meet at 11 am, and Southern Cal and UCLA play at 5:00 pm. This will be the 176th meeting between the California schools, as the Bruins lead the series 95-80. The Georgia-Mississippi match will be just the 39th meeting between the two schools, with the Bulldogs holding a 30-8 record.

Other matches feature the top two seeds, as No. 1 Virginia plays Baylor, who won the 2004 NCAA Championship on these same Case Tennis Center Courts, at 12 noon, and No. 2 seed Ohio State faces Texas at 4:00 pm.

The women will play the quarterfinal matches on Saturday beginning with Stanford vs. Baylor at 11 am; Northwestern vs. Cal at 12 noon; UCLA vs. Arkansas at 4:00 pm and Georgia Tech vs. Florida at 5:00 pm.