UCLA’s Bissell Advances in Tennis Event

Fritz Bissell of UCLA beat Tim Jessup of Tennessee on Friday to advance to the quarterfinals of the championship draw in the West Coast Fall Men’s tennis championships at Warner Center Club in Woodland Hills.

Bissell defeated Jessup in a second-round match, 6-4, 6-2, but another Vols player met a better fate. Jessup’s teammate, Brice Karsh, held off Mike Roberts of UC Irvine, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, to reach the final eight.

USC’s Phil Whitesell also moved into the quarterfinals, where he was joined by Doug Livingston of Arizona and Mark Jeffrey of Mississippi State, among others.

Quarterfinal matches will begin today at 10 a.m. and will be played throughout the day on the Warner Center stadium court.

The semifinals will be held at 8:30 a.m. Sunday with the final at noon.

Seven players from Southern California colleges advanced to the round of 16.

Pepperdine placed two, including freshman Cary Lothringer, who upset Bent-Ove Pedersen of Cal, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. USC placed three, and UCLA and UC Irvine each advanced one player to the final 16.

Some of the top collegiate players in the nation entered the event, but no one from Stanford, the defending national champion, competed in the tournament.