The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's tennis team fell to No. 1 seed Georgia in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships, hosted by the University of Georgia in Athens, GA on Friday, May 11.
The Knights were defeated in doubles, as Kyle Eddins (Tampa, FL/Saddlebrook Prep) and Priit Gross (Tartu, Estonia/Miina Harma) fell to Travis Helgeson and Matic Omerzel in second doubles, 8-2, and Philip Stephens (London, England/Monkton Combe) and Alex Nace combined to compete at first doubles against the top-ranked team of John Isner and Luis Flores, falling 8-2.
The third doubles match between Esteban Blanco (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Asociacion Escuelas Lincoln) and Justin Seow (Johor Bahru, Malaysia/Brisbane - Australia) and Georgia's Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg went unfinished, with UGA leading, 5-1.
Fourth singles finished first, as Seow fell to Omerzel (6-1, 6-0), giving Georgia a 2-0 lead in the match. Omerzel gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage, as he defeated Nace in third singles, 6-1, 6-0.
Hunt defeated Blanco 6-0, 6-1 in sixth singles to clinch the win for UGA, 4-0.
In the first singles match-up, Stephens fell in the first set, 6-2, to top-ranked Isner, but took a 3-0 lead in the second set and jumped out 4-1. The match went unfinished with the score at 6-2, 2-5.
“He is a great player,” said Stephens of Isner. “The only way to beat John is to hold on to your serve, and that's what I tried to do. When you get a break, you have to take it. We're a really solid team and very young. We have a lot of new guys coming in next year and I think we'll be here for the next three years. Hopefully, we'll give them more of a run next time.”
In the second singles competition that was halted, Helgeson was leading Gross, 6-2, 4-0. The fifth singles match-up was also suspended, with Hunt leading Eddins, 6-0, 4-2.
Georgia is ranked first in the nation, with four players in the top-16 individual rankings in the country.
“I think we came out very strong in the doubles competition,” said Head Coach Ira Miller. “Their experience prevailed but it was a great experience for us and shows that we can play with anyone.”
“They were clearly stronger than us in singles. Phil Stephens really stepped up and showed that he can play with anyone in the country. I wish that they had a little more time to finish the match, but he played very well.”
“He was looking forward to playing Isner and played with a lot of energy, a positive attitude and believed in himself,” said Miller. “Usually, in those match-ups, you see the underdog start to back down, but he didn't.”
“We have a young team- four freshmen, one sophomore and one junior. This shows us where we are and what we need to do for next year.”
Fairleigh Dickinson finished the season 12-10 overall with a 7-1 conference record. FDU won the Northeast Conference Championship to earn the automatic berth to the tournament. This is the Knights' first trip to the NCAA Tournament under Miller and second in program history. The first trip was in 1999, where the Knights lost to Southern Methodist University, 4-0.
Singles competition
1. #1 John Isner (UGA) vs. Philip Stephens (London, England/Monkton Combe) (FDU) 6-2, 2-5, unfinished
2. #12 Travis Helgeson (UGA) vs. Priit Gross (Tartu, Estonia/Miina Harma) (FDU) 6-2, 4-0, unfinished
3. #35 Matic Omerzel (UGA) def. Alex Nace (FDU) 6-1, 6-0
4. #95 Nate Schnugg (UGA) def. Justin Seow (Johor Bahru, Malaysia/Brisbane - Australia) (FDU) 6-1, 6-0
5. #104 Jamie Hunt (UGA) vs. Kyle Eddins (Tampa, FL/Saddlebrook Prep) (FDU) 6-0, 4-2, unfinished
6. #104 Christian Vitulli (UGA) def. Esteban Blanco (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Asociacion Escuelas Lincoln) (FDU) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #1 John Isner/Luis Flores (UGA) def. Philip Stephens (London, England/Monkton Combe)/Alex Nace (FDU) 8-2
2. #16 Travis Helgeson/Matic Omerzel (UGA) def. Priit Gross (Tartu, Estonia/Miina Harma)/Kyle Eddins (Tampa, FL/Saddlebrook Prep) (FDU) 8-2
3. Jamie Hunt/Nate Schnugg (UGA) def. Esteban Blanco (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Asociacion Escuelas Lincoln)/Justin Seow (Johor Bahru, Malaysia/Brisbane - Australia) (FDU) 5-1
