TULSA, Okla. – The 4th-seeded Georgia men’s tennis team (26-3) will compete for the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship today after upsetting No. 1-seeded Virginia (32-1 4-3 score in Monday’s semifinal match. It’s the Cavaliers’ first loss of the year. Georgia will take on the 7th-seeded Texas Longhorns in the championship match live on ESPNU at 7 p.m. eastern.

“We are very humbled for the opportunity to play for another NCAA Championship,” said Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz. “I feel for UVA and their squad, we were in that position not too long ago (losing the 2006 NCAA Finals as the No. 1 seed). I know a lot of people can forget quickly what they accomplished this year, but they had a terrific season and they are a great bunch of competitors. After losing the doubles point I knew it was going to be a tough battle, but I really felt there was something special about our guys. I thought we had more than a fair chance of something great happening out there.”

With the team score tied at 3-3, the deciding match came down to court 4, where 38th-ranked sophomore Jamie Hunt (San Antonio, Texas) was headed to a third set against Sanam Singh. Hunt had lost the first set, 6-4, but battled back to take the second set, 6-3. Beginning late in the second set, Singh was suffering from severe cramping in his legs.

Despite the pain, he took the court against Hunt did the best he could to play the third set. Hunt won the set 6-0, clinching the win for Georgia and propelling the Bulldogs to the NCAA Championship match for the third consecutive year. Georgia barely celebrated, exchanging handshakes and muted congratulations, as the Bulldogs demonstrated a keen understanding of what had just taken place for Virginia.

“I thought (the silence) was very classy of Georgia,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “I think it said a lot about their class. I think they felt they wanted to win, clearly. But as competitive of a match as we all expected it to be, I don’t think anyone thought it would end that way.”

“I was actually looking forward to playing that third set with both of us at 100%,” said Hunt. “I just tried to get my first serves in play the best I could (when Singh was cramping). It was an unbelievable, tough match. I am so proud of all of my teammates, everyone stepped up. I don’t know at what point I realized it was going to come down to my court. But I had looked up to see that Christian (Vitulli) and Travis (Helgeson) had won their first sets and it really inspired me to come back and win that second set. We are really looking forward to tomorrow.”

Georgia now faces Texas for the NCAA Championship. The Bulldogs and Longhorns faced off on the court earlier this year in a match that saw Georgia take down a 4-2 win in the quarterfinals of the ITA Team Indoor National Championship. Georgia is 14-2 all-time against Texas and has won their last three consecutive meetings. The two teams have only met in the NCAA Tournament twice previously. Their last NCAA meeting came in the second round in 2004 at the very site of this year’s NCAA Championship match, in Tulsa, Okla. Georgia won that 2004 tilt by a 4-2 score.

Georgia will be gunning for its sixth NCAA Team Championship, and the fourth under head coach Manuel Diaz. Georgia has won all five of its current championships in Athens on its home courts, most recently in 2007. The Bulldogs’ other four titles came in 1985, ’87, ’99 and 2001.

The Bulldogs have now reached the NCAA Championship in three consecutive years. They fell to Pepperdine in the finals in Palo Alto, Calif., 4-2 in 2006, then defeated Illinois, 4-0, to win the 2007 NCAA Championship in Athens last year. Tuesday’s contest will mark Georgia’s 12th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championship match, since the inception of its current team format in 1977.
Georgia’s road to the 2008 NCAA Championship match:

1st Rd. – def. #49-64 seed Radford, 4-0 (Athens, Ga.)
2nd Rd. – def. #33-48 seed Auburn, 4-0 (Athens, Ga.)
Rd. of 16 – def. #13 seed Pepperdine, 4-1 (Tulsa, Okla.)
Quarterfinals – def. #5 seed Ole Miss, 4-0 (Tulsa, Okla.)
Semifinals – def. #1 seed Virginia, 4-3 (Tulsa, Okla.)

Texas’ road to the 2008 NCAA Championship match:
1st Rd. – def. #49-64 seed Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 4-0
2nd Rd. – def. #17-32 seed Rice, 4-0
Rd. of 16 – def. #10 seed Florida, 4-1
Quarterfinals – def. #2 seed Ohio State, 4-2
Semifinals – def. #3 seed UCLA, 4-2

Georgia fans can follow the NCAA Championship match live scoring at www.tulsahurricane.com. Due to NCAA broadcast rights rules and restrictions, live video feeds from the courts will not be available. The match will be broadcast live on ESPNU.

Projected lineups for the 2008 NCAA Championship:

#5 Georgia 0 vs. #7 Texas 0
Singles competition
1. #4 Travis Helgeson (UGA) vs. #10 Dimitar Kurtovsky (TEXAS)

2. #15 Nate Schnugg (UGA) vs. #41 Kellen Damico (TEXAS)

3. #59 Luis Flores (UGA) vs. #47 Ed Corrie (TEXAS)

4. #38 Jamie Hunt (UGA) vs. Luis Diaz Barriga (TEXAS)

5. #121 Javier Garrapiz (UGA) vs. Milan Mihailovic (TEXAS)

6. Christian Vitulli (UGA) vs. Miguel Reyes Varela (TEXAS)

Doubles competition

1. #17 Jamie Hunt/Nate Schnugg (UGA) vs. #9 Ed Corrie/Kellen Damico (TEXAS)

2. Luis Flores/Javier Garrapiz (UGA) vs. #53 Luis Diaz Barriga/Miguel Reyes Varela (TEXAS)

3. Travis Helgeson/Christian Vitulli (UGA) vs. Dimitar Kurtovsky/Josh Zavala (TEXAS)

Texas 25-5; National ranking #7
Georgia 29-3; National ranking #5
NCAA Championship
Georgia No. 4 Seed
Texas No. 7 Seed

Box Score from Georgia’s 4-3 win over No. 1 Virginia:
#5 Georgia 4, #1 Virginia 3

Singles competition
1. #1 Somdev Devvarman (UVA) def. #4 Travis Helgeson (UGA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

2. #15 Nate Schnugg (UGA) def. #28 Treat Huey (UVA) 6-4, 6-2

3. #59 Luis Flores (UGA) def. #17 Dominic Inglot (UVA) 6-2, 6-1

4. #38 Jamie Hunt (UGA) def. Sanam Singh (UVA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0

5. #121 Javier Garrapiz (UGA) def. Michael Shabaz (UVA) 7-5, 6-3

6. Ted Angelinos (UVA) def. Christian Vitulli (UGA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. #1 Somdev Devvarman/Treat Huey (UVA) def. #17 Jamie Hunt/Nate Schnugg (UGA) 8-4

2. Dominic Inglot/Michael Shabaz (UVA) def. Luis Flores/Javier Garrapiz (UGA) 9-7

3. Travis Helgeson/Christian Vitulli (UGA) def. Houston Barrick/Sanam Singh (UVA) 8-5

Match Notes:

Georgia 26-3; National ranking #5

Virginia 32-1; National ranking #1

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,2,5,6,1,4)

NCAA Semifinals

Georgia Seeded No. 4

Virginia Seeded No. 1

- Georgia Sports Communications