UGA Men's Tennis Advances To Semifinals At SEC Tournament
April 20, 2007 | Men's Tennis
BATON ROUGE, La. The No. 1-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team (24-0) took down Mississippi State by a 4-0 score in Baton Rouge Friday to advance to the semifinals. The match was clinched by 101st-ranked freshman Jamie Hunt (San Antonio, Texas) at the first position as he defeated Chris Doerr, 6-3, 6-3, at the fifth singles position.
“This was a solid win by our squad today,” said Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz. “We played great at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Flores and Omerzel did really well to win quickly and set up Hunt for the clinch. Travis was playing very well also and could have gotten the clinch if not for Bjelica’s injury timeout. Hopefully we can use this win and build on it as we head into tomorrow’s match against either LSU or Tennessee.”
Georgia eased through the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead for the 23rd time in 24 matches. First off the court was the 19th-ranked team of senior Matic Omerzel (Kranj, Slovenia) and senior Travis Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan.) as they defeated Artem Kuznetsov and Pjotrs Necajevs at the second spot, 8-0. Shortly thereafter, the doubles point was clinched by the freshman tandem Hunt and Nate Schnugg (Medford, Ore.) when they topped Chris Doerr and Ryan Farlow, 8-0, at the third position. The match between the No. 1-ranked team of senior John Isner (Greensboro, N.C.) and junior Luis Flores (Xalapa, Mexico) and 36th-ranked Ivan Bjelica and Phillippe Frayssinoux, was halted as soon as the point was clinched. UGA was winning that match, 5-4.
In singles action, Georgia took a 2-0 lead as 12th-ranked Flores cruised past Frayssinoux at the second spot, 6-2, 6-2, winning the last 22 consecutive points of the match. The match took just 55 minutes to complete. Next to finish was Omerzel as he gave Georgia the 3-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kuznetsov at the third position, setting up Hunt for the match-clinching win. Omerzel's win marked the 100th singles win of his career.
Once the match was clinched in Georgia’s favor, the remaining matches were halted. At that time, 11th-ranked Helgeson was leading 39th-ranked Bjelica, 6-2, 5-1, 89th-ranked Schnugg was leading 7-5, 2-4 at the fourth position, and freshman Christian Vitulli was leading the second set 5-4 after falling in the first, 6-3.
Isner, also ranked No. 1 in singles, did not play against MSU as the coaching staff decided to rest him for the first time all season.
“It was good for us to be able to rest John today,” said Diaz. “He is fine, this was just precautionary because of his recent ankle trouble. He really wanted to play but we felt it was better to rest him today so that he is ready to go tomorrow.”
Georgia improves to an 8-1 record over the last four SEC Tournaments. The Bulldogs won the event in 2004 and 2006 and are looking to win their first back-to-back tournaments. Georgia has won six SEC Tournament crowns since the inception of the event in 1990, the most by any conference school.
The Bulldogs will now face the winner of Friday evening’s matchup between No. 4-seed LSU and No. 5-seed Tennessee in the semifinals. That match is slated for 3 p.m. eastern on Saturday.
Live stats for every match during the tournament at the official tournament website at either www.lsusports.com or www.secsports.com.
Tennis Match Results
Mississippi State vs GEORGIA
Apr 20, 2007 at Baton Rouge, La.
#1 GEORGIA 4, #65 Mississippi State 0
Singles competition
1. #11 Travis Helgeson (UGA) vs. #39 Ivan Bjelica (MSU) 6-2, 5-1, unfinished
2. #12 Luis Flores (UGA) def. #55 Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. #41 Matic Omerzel (UGA) def. Artem Kuznetsov (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. #89 Nate Schnugg (UGA) vs. Ryan Farlow (MSU) 7-5, 4-3, unfinished
5. #101 Jamie Hunt (UGA) def. Christopher Doerr (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Christian Vitulli (UGA) vs. Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) 3-6, 5-4, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #1 Luis Flores/John Isner (UGA) vs. Ivan Bjelica/Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) 5-4, unfinished
2. #19 Travis Helgeson/Matic Omerzel (UGA) def. Artem Kuznetsov/Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU) 8-0
3. Jamie Hunt/Nate Schnugg (UGA) def. Christopher Doerr/Ryan Farlow (MSU) 8-0
Match Notes:
Mississippi State 7-14; National ranking #65
GEORGIA 24-0; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,3,5)
-Quarterfinals, SEC Tournament
-Georgia won its 23rd doubles point in 24 tries
The University of Georgia will play host to the 2007 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships, May 17-28. For ticket and tournament information, please visit the NCAA Tournament Information Center on georgiadogs.com.
