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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
NCAA Individual Championships
Gard Advances To Second Round At NCAA Singles
5/25/2005 | Men's Tennis
May 25, 2005
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Ole Miss men's tennis senior Catalin Gard, seeded No. 4 at the NCAA Singles Championships, won his first round match here at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center Wednesday, to advance to the second round.
Gard, ranked No. 4 in the nation, and Washington's Alex Slovic, ranked No. 44, battled back and forth in the first set to 4-4. Gard broke and held serve to take the set. He jumped out to an early lead in the second, cruising 6-2 to move on to the second round, where he will face Georgia Tech's Jose Muguruza Thursday.
"It was huge in the first set for me to break him at 4-4 and then serve it out," Gard said. "In the second set, he started getting tired, because it is still so hot here. That was the difference."
"Cat played extremely well," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "This guy had been as high at top 15 earlier in the year and had some injuries. People were saying at the beginning of the year, that Washington probably had the best one-two punch in the country. So this was a tough first round, and we are happy for Cat to advance."
The 2004 SEC Player of the Year, Gard improved to 34-6 overall for the year. He finished 24-4 at No. 1 singles and led the Rebels to the overall SEC Championship for the second consecutive year and their fourth straight SEC West title.
Earlier this week, Gard helped lead the Rebels to the NCAA Final Four for the fourth time in school history. Ole Miss defeated the 14th seed, Texas Tech, in the Sweet Sixteen and then knocked off sixth-seeded Georgia in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. The Rebels came close, but fell just short of reaching the championship match, falling 4-2 to National Champion, UCLA.
Gard is making his third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles field and is considered one of the favorites to win the title.
