Alvarez, Papac and Ghilea On to Round of 16

ATHENS, Ga. – All three Sooner men's tennis players in contention at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens, Ga., advanced to the round of 16 on Saturday.

OU now holds three of the 16 remaining spots in the Division I singles draw.

Third round action was schedule for Saturday afternoon but has been delayed due to weather. Play is scheduled to resume this evening.

Redshirt senior Nick Papac led the way for OU with a three-set win over No. 5 seed and 50th ranked Ben Wagland of host school Georgia. Papac dropped set one 3-6, but rallied to control the remainder of the match, taking sets two and three 6-1, 6-2, respectively.

Junior Axel Alvarez, who is ranked third in the ITA preseason rankings, started his tournament play with a 6-0, 7-6 win over Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech. Alvarez received a bye in the first round by virtue of his No. 1 overall seed.

Sophomore Alex Ghilea also advanced to the round of 16 after his second round opponent, No. 2 overall seed Austin Smith of Georgia, withdrew. Ghilea's third round match with No. 16 seed Aron Hiltzik of Illinois was also postponed due to weather.

Papac will see Kris Yee of Vanderbilt in the round of 16 when play resumes. Alvarez is slated to face Jess Jones of Tennessee and Ghilea's third round match will be with No. 16 seed Aron Hiltzik of Illinois.

For further updates and more on OU Men's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter at @OU_MTennis. Also, check back to SoonerSports.com for updated results.

For tournament details visit: http://bit.ly/WQ9foK