University of Georgia Athletics
Pasha Shines In Final Home Match
May 09, 2015 | Men's Tennis
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- Nathan Pasha won his final match at Henry Feild Stadium on Saturday in the eighth-seeded Georgia Bulldogs' 4-0 victory over Florida State. The senior's performance in the second round of the NCAA men's tennis tournament was a fitting sendoff for the three-time All-SEC player.
Pasha beat a familiar face in FSU's Marco Nunez, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Nunez is a former Georgia player and former roommate of current Bulldogs Pasha, Austin Smith and Ben Wagland.
"It was kind of funny because he played Austin and Ben in doubles and he played me in singles, so he got to play all his old roommates in one day," Pasha said.
In the tiebreaker at the end of a well played, tight opening set, Pasha hit a perfect backhand lob winner to go up 6-5 and won the set on a forehand miss by Nunez. Pasha broke Nunez to open the second set and cruised from there.
"He was doing a good job of hitting some really good spots on his serve to where I was always stretching to get it back and giving him short balls, so I was never in points (in the first set)," he said. "In the second set he got a bit frustrated and wasn't hitting his spots as well, so I was able to get into points easier."
Georgia advanced to next week's round of 16, which will be played at Baylor in Waco, Texas, and Pasha also is one of three Bulldogs to qualify for the NCAA singles tournament.
Some Georgia athletes make their mark on the playing field, or court or pool or wherever they compete. Some also excel in the classroom, such as Georgia All-American swimmer Maddie Locus, recently named the SEC's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
There are also Bulldogs like Pasha, who seem to shine in everything they do. And along the way leave the University of Georgia a better place for having been here.
"He came in as a very mature freshman and his mom told me, he was here to graduate; to go to school, play tennis and graduate," Georgia coach Manny Diaz said of Delmarie Payton, who attended Saturday's match. "He's worked extremely hard and you want a whole lot of Nathan Pashas on your team."
Chris Conley, the Georgia wide receiver who seemed to embrace the college experience and Athens community as well any Bulldog ever has, is another one of those student-athletes. Laura Herring, who plays No. 1 singles and doubles for the Georgia women's tennis team, is another.
Last month at the Student-Athlete Awards Banquet, Herring and Conley were named Georgia's nominees for the SEC Brad Davis Community Service Postgraduate Scholarships. Pasha was named the men's recipient of the UGA Athletic Association Sportsmanship-Ethics Award.
It should come as no surprise that on Wednesday, Pasha and Herring were part of a Bulldog contingent in Atlanta at D.H. Stanton Elementary School for the "UGA Day -- Learn, Play, Excel" initiative.
While excelling on the court and in the classroom, Pasha has served as co-president of the UGA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, has been named to the SEC Community Service Team and been inducted into the UGA Student-Athlete Leadership Academy -- to name a few of his off-the-court efforts.
Experiencing all that being a Georgia student-athlete has to offer and giving back as often as possible, these are meaningful and important things to Pasha.
"It's probably just from how I grew up in my family," he said. "I grew with, I guess, not a lot, but I didn't know it wasn't a lot until I'm here now and look back on it. It's just knowing where I come from and really appreciating what I have.
"People have done that for me. For me to get to where I am, there have been so many people that have just given and helped me. I always try to do it and it's fun for me because I know what kind of impact it can possibly make. It won't make an impact on everyone, but it will on someone, like it did on me."
Saturday's match was also the home finale for senior Eric Diaz, who has come back strong from a recent appendectomy. Playing with redshirt freshman Paul Oosterbaan at No. 3 doubles for the second day in a row, and second time ever, the duo rolled to an 8-2 victory. In two pro-sets together, the Diaz-Oosterbaan pairing has won by a combined score of 16-5.
Georgia (23-4) is back in action Thursday against ninth-seeded Texas (21-6).
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
