ITA
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Upsets were few and far between this weekend as the top seeds for both the men and the women advanced through the opening two rounds of the 2005 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships.
Third round play resumes in the women's tournament on Thursday in Athens, Ga., and picks up on Saturday for the men in College Station, Texas.
Thirteen of the top 16 seeds in the men's tournament advanced through the first two rounds this weekend (No. 6 Georgia is playing tonight). The biggest upset occurred in Lexington, Ky., as Florida State beat 12th-seeded Kentucky 4-2 today. FSU (20-7) entered this year's NCAAs with a 2-7 mark in seven previous appearances, but now advance to the final 16 for the first time in program history. One other top 16 seed went down when South Carolina (20-9) upset 13th-seeded Oklahoma State 4-3 in Stillwater. USC's Ben Atkinson edged Felipe Diaz, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2), at No. 6 singles to clinch the victory.
Defending champ and No. 1 seed Baylor improved to 30-0 this season with a 4-1 win over Texas last night in Waco. Coach Matt Knoll's Bears have now won 54 straight matches and are looking to become only the fifth team to go through a season unbeaten since the NCAA added a postseason team tournament in 1977. They'll face 16th-seeded Texas A&M (17-8), the host school, next Saturday in College Station. The Aggies, 4-0 winners over Boise State last night, will be making their sixth straight Sweet 16 appearance.
Also advancing to the final 16 in the men's tournament are: No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 Mississippi, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Illinois, No. 7 UCLA, No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 9 Duke, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 11 LSU, No. 14 Texas Tech and No. 15 Washington. Seventh-seeded UCLA (23-3) topped California 4-2 today and is the only program to appear in the final 16 every year since 1977.
Sixth-seeded Georgia is facing Clemson tonight for the last spot in the final 16. The match start had been delayed due to rain.
Eigth-seeded and final site host Georgia beat South Carolina 4-0 in the only second round match in the women's tournament played today. Fourteen of the top 16 women's seeds will be in Athens this week. Defending champ and top-seeded Stanford (23-0) beat Oregon 4-0 yesterday. The win was its 52nd straight overall and 85th straight at home. Second-seeded and 2003 champ Florida (20-2) also coasted to a 4-0 win over Florida International in Gainesville. Rounding out the women's Sweet 16 are: No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Northwestern, No. 6 Georgia Tech, No. 7 Southern California, No. 10 UCLA, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Clemson, No. 13 North Carolina, No. 14 Tulane, No. 15 Baylor, California and Harvard.