No. 26 Bulldogs Sweep UNC-Wilmington In NCAA Opening Round, 4-0

Saturday, May 3

Raleigh, N.C.

11:00 a.m.

University of Georgia

UNC Wilmington

Senior Thomas Paulsell during a match against No. 14 Texas A&M at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Sunday, April. 13, 2025.

Photo by: Sofia Yaker/UGAAA

No. 26 Bulldogs Sweep UNC-Wilmington In NCAA Opening Round, 4-0

May 03, 2025 | Men's Tennis

RALEIGH, N.C. – The University of Georgia men's tennis team swept No. 65 UNC-Wilmington in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA D1 Men's Tennis Tournament at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center on Saturday. The Bulldogs improve to 16-11 on the season, and the Seahawks close out 2025 at 12-8.

*PDF of Full Match Results

FAST FACTS:

Georgia took the doubles point behind a win on court two by Niels Ratiu/Gabriele Vulpitta – the duo's third win together this season – and a point-clinching win by No. 74 Miguel Perez Peña/Oscar Pinto Sansano – the pairing's first win of the spring.
Freshman Vulpitta was first off the courts in singles with a dominant straight set victory over Alex de Gabriele to earn his eighth win of the spring.
Senior Ryan Colby saw off Joseph Wayand on court two for his 14^th win of the spring – joint second-best on the team.
Senior Thomas Paulsell earned his sixth career match-clinching win on court three for the Bulldogs. The ranked win is his 10th of the 2024-25 campaign.
Georgia now owns a 1-0 record against UNC-Wilmington. More, the Bulldogs are 21-3 in first-round matches of the NCAA since 2000.

RESULTS:
Doubles

No. 30 T. Paulsell/R. Colby vs. J. Domenech/J. Wayand, 4-3 (unfinished)
N. Ratiu/G. Vulpitta def. A. de Gabriele/T. Mallory, 6-1
M. Perez Peña/O. Pinto Sansano def. H. Huens/L. Steffen, 6-2

Order of Finish: (2,3*)

Singles

No. 62 Miguel Perez Peña vs. Harold Huens, 3-6, 5-2, unfinished
No. 36 Ryan Colby def. Joseph Wayand, 6-3, 6-4
No. 50 Thomas Paulsell def. No. 104 Sam Nicholson, 6-4, 6-3
Oscar Pinto Sansano vs. Trey Mallory, 6(3)-7, 2-0, unfinished
Niels Ratiu vs. Lukas Steffen, 2-6, 6-4, unfinished
Gabriele Vulpitta def. Alex de Gabriele, 6-0, 6-1

Order of Finish: (6,2,3*)

KEY QUOTE: "Always good to get through the first round, especially against a really good UNCW team, a team that's won five conference championships in a row," said head coach Jamie Hunt. "A really well-coached team. I was really impressed with them, the fight and the team spirit they had. We came out and plated really good doubles, and we carried that into singles. Gabry [Vulpitta] was fantastic at six and just steam-rolled the guy. Ryan [Colby] followed that up with a straight set win, and Thomas [Paulsell] clinched it for us. We were fighting really hard on the other courts. Some things to clean up heading into a tough match tomorrow, but I'm excited where we are."

UP NEXT: Georgia will face the winner of the second match today in the Raleigh Regional between hosts No. 8 N.C. State and South Carolina State tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. E.T. at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in the second round of the 2025 NCAA D1 Men's Tennis Tournament.

Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA men's tennis on social media on X and Instagram @UGATennis, on Facebook @UGAMensTennis and on the web at GeorgiaDogs.com.