Georgia Tops Pepperdine 4-1; Ole Miss Gets By UNC 4-2 in Men's Round of 16 NCAA Action Friday

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Tulsa, OK--
The No.4 seeded Georgia Bulldogs continued the defense of their NCAA title with a 4-1 win over undermanned Pepperdine Friday morning. Andre Begemann, the No. 1 singles and doubles player for the 13th-seeded Waves, was in Germany for his mother's funeral, and his teammates battled with great energy and emotion, but it wasn't enough. Bassam Beidas beat Georgia's Travis Helgeson 6-2, 6-4 for the Waves point, and Omar Altmann earned a split at No. 2, but the bottom of the Bulldogs' lineup pulled through with Christian Vitulli clinching at No. 6. Vitulli beat Alex Moreno 6-3, 6-4 to put Georgia in the quarterfinals against No. 5 Ole Miss.


Mississippi lost the doubles point when their No. 2 team of Robbye Poole and Matthias Wllermann were broken at 6-6 by UNC's Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy, who held for the point. Over two hours later, the score was still 1-0 Tar Heels, with the first sets three apiece. But Ole Miss fought back in all the matches they were down a set, while UNC could not, and finally the Rebels began to tip the scales to their side. Erling Tviet took the point at No. 1 for Ole Miss and Robbye Poole at No. 3 soon followed, giving Ole Miss a 2-1 lead. UNC tied it when Ole Miss's Jonas Berg went down with cramps and was forced to retire at 3-2 in the third set. But Ole Miss was up a break in the remaining matches, and took a straight-set win at No. 6 to set up Wellermann's 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 clinching victory over Hardy at No. 2.

Billy Chadwick said he wasn't bothered by his team's drop from No. 4 seed to No. 5, with Georgia taking the No. 4 spot, since they lost to the Bulldogs in their only head-to-head.

For complete scores, see the University of Tulsa website.

Tags: college tennis, Matthias Wellermann, Christian Vitulli, NCAA Division I National Tennis Championships, Colette Lewis