Georgia repeats as NCAA men's tennis champ

 

TULSA, Okla. - Georgia beat Texas 4-2 Tuesday night to repeat as NCAA men's tennis champions at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The title is Georgia's sixth overall and fourth since 1999 under coach Manuel Diaz.

Seventh-seeded Texas (25-6) won the doubles point and led 2-0 when Miguel Reyes Varela won at No. 6 singles. But No. 3 Georgia (27-3) reeled off four straight victories to close out the match. Travis Helgeson, Nate Schnugg, Luis Flores and Jamie Hunt registered wins in singles for the Bulldogs. Georgia senior Helgeson, who played at Texas in 2005-06, clinched the match when he beat Dimitar Kutrovsky, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Schnugg, Flores and Hunt improved to a combined 20-0 in career NCAA tournament matches.
 
Georgia is the first team to repeat as NCAA men's champs since Stanford won the last of four in a row in 1998. Georgia's six national titles trail Stanford's 17 and USC and UCLA's 16. This is the first time that Georgia has won the NCAA title outside of Athens. Last night Georgia upset No. 1 Virginia in the semifinals, ending UVA's bid for a perfect season. Texas was playing in its first NCAA final and upset No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 UCLA en route to the title match.