ATHENS — On an ideal night for tennis, black defeated blue.
Wearing black shirts, shoes and socks, the Georgia men’s tennis team bombed North Carolina 4-0 in their NCAA Round of 16 matchup Friday night at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
"That's an impressive start for us," Georgia coach Manny Diaz said.
Playing before a raucous and nearly unanimous pro-Georgia crowd, the second-seeded Bulldogs overwhelmed the No. 15-seed Tar Heels, who were in their first Round of 16 since 2008.
"We played a really tough schedule this year, and they put it to us," North Carolina coach Sam Paul said. "They played a great match."
Georgia will play the Tulsa-Pepperdine winner at 4 p.m. Sunday. The Bulldogs improved to 26-2 and gained the quarterfinals for the eighth year in a row.
Georgia jumped on North Carolina in doubles, getting wins at No. 2 (Nathan Pasha/Ignacio Taboada) and No. 3 doubles (KU Singh/Wil Spencer) by 8-5 and 8-4 scores, respectively.
"We wanted to be sure we came out with energy and be aggressive," Diaz said. "And we did that pretty well."
On a still night, the storm kept up as all six Georgia singles players took their first sets. No. Hernus Pieters at No. 6 singles and Singh at No. 2 singles won to lift the margin to 3-0, and then Pasha closed out North Carolina with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles.
"This is definitely a very deep lineup," Diaz said. "These guys at the bottom have provided a lot of winners this year."
In the other matches, USC defeated Illinois 4-0, Duke defeated Baylor 4-0, UCLA eliminated Mississippi 4-1, Virginia took out California 4-0, Ohio State defeated Florida 4-1 and Stanford topped Kentucky 4-1. No. 11-seed Stanford’s victory over No. 6-seed Kentucky was the only match that didn’t follow seeding.
The most compelling match of the day was Ohio State’s win over Florida. The latest extension of the Florida-Ohio State rivalry was punctuated by an unusual finish. The Buckeyes won their clinching match over a hobbled Florida player unable to cover the court.
“You don’t want to win that way, but a win’s a win,” Ohio State No. 6 singles player Connor Smith of his 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 win over Mike Alford.
Slowed by a knee injury and apparently cramping, Alford was barely able to move laterally and could manage only soft services, according to observers. He took a medical timeout, then received multiple penalties for delay, ultimately resulting in a game penalty to open the third set. Smith continually aced Alford as he easily won the final 20 points of the match.
The two know each other, as both are from Tampa.
After the match, “I just said sorry,” said Smith, who could think of only one other instance where he played an opponent so physically ailing. “He was obviously hurting.”
With Florida down 3-1 and facing elimination with the next singles loss, Gators coach Andy Jackson chose to keep Alford on the court, saying he was not in danger.
“Maybe Connor starts having physical problems, maybe he turns an ankle,” Jackson said. “Maybe you get your second wind.”
The win moved Ohio State into the quarterfinals for the seventh year in a row and also delivered a victory for the Buckeyes in their rivalry with Florida. The Gators have largely held the advantage, beating Ohio State in the January 2007 BCS championship game and in the 2007 men’s basketball national championship. This past Jan. 2, the Gators took the Gator Bowl over the Buckeyes.
After the match, Ohio State coach Ty Tucker recited less publicized results, such as wins by Florida in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament this March and in the semifinals of the American Lacrosse Conference earlier this month.
Tucker even knew the score of the women’s lacrosse game, 5-4 in Florida’s favor.
“Everybody knows the scores,” Tucker said. “If you play long enough, you’re going to play Florida, I think.”
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