Tulsa, Okla. — Jamie Hunt's match Friday didn't make the difference in Georgia's 4-1 win over Pepperdine in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tennis tournament. But what he did at No. 4 singles had everything to do with the win.

Hunt trailed Pepperdine's Mahmoud Kamel 5-0 in the first set, and his 18-match unbeaten streak appeared in jeopardy. But Hunt, a sophomore from San Antonio, put on a rally for the ages, roaring back to take seven games in a row and win the set 7-5.

It would have been fitting for Hunt to clinch the victory for the defending national champion Bulldogs. Ahead 5-3 and receiving serve, he had a chance to do just that. But as Kamel managed to hold on, Georgia's Christian Vitulli broke Pepperdine's Alex Moreno minutes later one court over to win 6-3, 6-4 and send Georgia (24-3) to its fourth consecutive NCAA quarterfinal.

"When Jamie went down 5-0 and started coming back, I heard the crowd start really getting into it and pumping him up," said Vitulli, who has won all three of his matches at No. 6 in straight sets in the NCAA tournament this year. "I definitely felt inspired and that just pushed me to play even better and keep going and stay positive."

Said coach Manuel Diaz: "The first thing I told him [Hunt] when he came off the court was what he did today was very, very important. We talk to our guys a lot about having a positive impact on your teammates no matter what the score is. Jamie's comeback inspired all the guys."

That Hunt was even capable of falling behind 0-5 was the biggest shock. He played No. 6 singles as a freshman last season and has played the majority of his singles matches at 2 and 3 this season. He even played one match at No. 1, winning against William & Mary. In all, he brought a 22-1 duals record into Friday's match.

Now settled in at No. 4 singles for the NCAAs, Hunt looked hopeless against Kamel, who was playing up a position in Pepperdine's lineup.

"It's not like I was playing bad," Hunt said. "It's just the guy was hitting winners left and right. All credit to him. He was just playing unbelievable."

With the win, Georgia will face Ole Miss in the Elite Eight on Sunday. They will be meeting for the eighth time in the last four seasons. The Dogs are 6-1 in those matches, including a 4-2 win in Athens this season.

"We played Georgia and lost, but the good thing is we don't play at their place this time," said Ole Miss

(24-4) senior Matthias Wellerman. "It's really tough to play Georgia at Georgia. I don't know what their home record is but I know they haven't lost many matches there the last four years. It's good that we play them here on a neutral site."