Few Georgia programs found much success against the Gators this year, and the men’s tennis team was no exception.  Florida was 2-for-2 against the Dawgs during the season, and the sixth-seeded Florida team had to be favored over eleventh-seeded Georgia in Friday’s round of 16 matchup in the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia had two things on their side: the home court and the home fans. The homestanding Bulldogs dug deep and came out with a huge 4-2 win over their SEC rivals and move on to the national quarterfinals on Sunday.

Georgia was set up in good position by taking the important doubles point.  Florida won two of the first three singles matches to finish and knotted the score at 2-2. The focus shifted to the ongoing matches at No. 1, 2, and 3, and whichever team won two out of three of those matches would advance. As it turns out, all three of those matches went Georgia’s way.

Nate Schnugg at #2 gave Georgia their third point with a 7-5, 6-4 win. #1 Javier Garrapiz clinched the win by taking a dramatic tiebreaker to upset the nation’s #7 player, Alex Lacroix, 6-4, 7-6(5). Georgia even had a bit of breathing room as Jamie Hunt at #3 was close to completing a furious comeback and led 3-6, 6-1, 4-0 when Garrapiz ended things.

Georgia will face unseeded Oklahoma on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. The Sooners themselves pulled a huge upset by taking down #3 Texas 4-2.  Oklahoma’s coach is no stranger to Athens and these courts: John Roddick was a four-time All American at Georgia from 1995-1999 and was named UGA Athlete of the Year in 1998.