NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships : Irvine, UCLA Advance to Quarterfinals : Anteaters Defeat San Diego, Will Face Georgia Today; USC Eliminated

Second-seeded UCLA and fourth-seeded UC Irvine advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. men’s tennis tournament Saturday at the University of Georgia.

UCLA defeated Utah, 5-1, and UC Irvine edged the University of San Diego, 5-3. Unseeded USC was eliminated by Georgia, 5-1.

The Bulldogs (19-5) will play Irvine (25-6) today. The Anteaters have 12 consecutive victories and have won 20 of their past 21 matches.

“Before the tournament I told people I thought San Diego could be the spoiler,” Irvine Coach Greg Patton said. “I thought they might spoil our dreams. Now we have a chance to play Georgia. Welcome to the Bulldog Dome. This is the epitome. For years I’ve been coming here and I’ve envied the teams that got to play Georgia. I think we can win. I believe in this team. We’re mature. These people are going to know who UC Irvine is.”

UCI and San Diego were tied at 3-3 after singles play, in part because San Diego freshman Jose Luis Noriega upset UCI’s top singles player Mark Kaplan, 6-4, 6-1. Kaplan, ranked 5th in the nation with a 34-7 record, lost for only the second time in his past 30 matches. Noriega is ranked No. 24.

However, the Anteaters won the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 5 singles, on victories by Trevor Kronemann, Mike Briggs and Shige Kanroji, respectively, and the doubles teams of Briggs-Kronemann and Kaplan-Richard Lubner swept their matches to assure the victory.

“We were a little more experienced in doubles than USD,” Patton said. “Our doubles team have pulled us out of the quicksand all year. It’s amazing how our Nos. 1 and 2 doubles feed off each other. When Kaplan and Lubner saw that Briggs and Kronemann had won their first set, their eyes just lit up.”

A rotator cuff injury to No. 6 singles player, Mike Cadigan, put a damper on Irvine’s chances. He is out of the tournament and will be replaced by junior Mike Saunders.

“Obviously, there is a big obstacle in our way (today),” Patton said. “A lot of teams don’t want to play the Bulldogs here in Athens, but I have been sitting here for years waiting for the opportunity to let these folks know who UC Irvine is.”

Patton added: “If we are going to win the NCAA championship, we have to play the best. We’re thrilled about playing Georgia. We play for moments like this in our life and we will have to rise to the occasion for this one.”

The victory over San Diego evens the Anteaters’ NCAA record at 3-3. This is UCI’s third straight trip to the tournament and fourth appearance overall.

UCLA’s victory moved Bruin Coach Glenn Bassett into a tie with Furman’s Paul Scarpa as the country’s winningest active coach with 493 victories. He can move into first with a victory in today’s quarterfinals against Texas Christian, which defeated Kentucky, 5-2, to advance.

Top-seeded Stanford defeated Miami, 5-1, and, in a rematch of last year’s championship bout, will face Louisiana State today. Stanford defeated the Tigers, 5-2, to win the 1988 title. LSU defeated Clemson, 5-3, to advance. Third-seeded California survived two marathon singles matches and held off Oklahoma State, 5-2. South Carolina advanced by beating Alabama, 5-2.