Blumberg And Kelly Play On At NCAA Tournament

North Carolina will be represented in Saturday's quarterfinals in both singles and doubles following wins Friday at the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament in Winston-Salem. Only three schools – UNC, UCLA and Ohio State – have players still alive in both the men's singles and doubles brackets.

In Friday's morning action, Tar Heel sophomore William Blumberg beat Vanderbilt's Cameron Klinger in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. Blumberg moves on to the Elite Eight and will meet Wake Forest's Borna Gojo, who is seeded No. 7 in the field.

In afternoon doubles action, Blumberg and senior Robert Kelly, the No. 2 seeded team in the field, advanced to the quarterfinals for the second year in a row, beating South Carolina's Yancy Dennis and Gabriel Friedrich 7-5, 6-2.

On Saturday they'll face UCLA's Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith.

Blumberg/Kelly d. Dennis/Friedrich 7-5, 6-2 advance to second straight #NCAATennis Elite 8 pic.twitter.com/4aOl4twqAe
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) May 25, 2018

By reaching the quarterfinals, Blumberg and Kelly earned All-America honors in doubles for the second year in a row. It marked the third year that Kelly has earned All-America recognition, making him just the fourth player in program history to be named All-America in three different seasons. The others were Freddie McNair (1970-73), Rich McKee (1972-74) and Brayden Schnur (2014-16).

Saturday's singles quarterfinal matches are set to start at noon, and the doubles matches will follow. All action is taking place at Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

For more, be sure to follow @carolinatennis on Twitter.

NCAA Tournament
Men's Round of 16 Singles
[1] Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. Giovanni Oradini (MISSISSIPPI STATE) 6-2, 6-1
[2] William Blumberg (NORTH CAROLINA) def. Cameron Klinger (VANDERBILT), 6-4, 6-1
[4] Petros Chrysochos (WAKE FOREST) def. Ryan Peniston (MEMPHIS), 6-2, 6-4
[9-16] Mazen Osama (ALABAMA) def. Runhao Hua (MICHIGAN) 6-1, 6-4
[6] Mikael Torpegaard (OHIO STATE) def. [9-16] Brandon Holt (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 7-5, 6-3
[9-16] Timo Stodder (TENNESSEE) def. Jose Salazar (ARKANSAS) 6-1, 6-3
[3] Nuno Borges (MISSISSIPPI STATE) def. [9-16] Alfredo Perez (FLORIDA) 7-6(7), 7-5
[7] Borna Gojo (WAKE FOREST) def. Valentin Vacherot (TEXAS A&M) 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-2

Men's Round of 16 Doubles

Rapp/Smith (UCLA) def. Moore/Schmitz (TULANE) 6-3, 7-6 (6)

Peniston/Watson (MEMPHIS) def. Holt/R. Smith (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) 6-4, 6-1

Kessler/Vale (FLORIDA) def. Langmo/Soriano Barrera (MIAMI) 7-6(5), 7-6(4)

Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. [5-8] Lovett/Vasa (UCF) 7-5, 6-3

[2] Blumberg/Kelly (NORTH CAROLINA) def. Dennis/Friedrich (SOUTH CAROLINA) 7-5, 6-2

Torpegaard/Joyce (OHIO STATE) def. Lin/Matheson (COLUMBIA) 6-3, 6-3

[4] Ingildsen/Perez (FLORIDA) def. Fallert/Sandkaulen (OLE MISS) 6-3, 6-1

[1] Borges/Rakic (MISSISSIPPI STATE) def. Carranza/Dodridge (WISCONSIN) 0-6, 7-5, 11-9

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William Blumberg

Robert Kelly

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