SPARTANBURG----The No. 7-ranked Lander men's tennis team claimed a 5-1 victory Friday afternoon over No. 21 Georgia College & State University in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Regional at the USC Upstate Tennis Complex.

Lander (18-6) advances to the regional championship match to face host USC Upstate, which claimed a 5-0 victory over Anderson Friday.  The winner of the Saturday's 11:00 a.m. match at the Upstate Tennis Complex will advance to the NCAA Regionals May 9-12 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.  Upstate and Lander have played each other twice this season.  The Bearcats claimed a 5-4 victory over the Spartans in Greenwood, S.C., during the regular season, but Upstate claimed a 5-2 win in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament.

Lander swept the doubles competition Friday en route to a commanding 3-0 lead heading into singles play.  Nicolas Legros and Guilherme Fonseca took an 8-4 victory over 16th-ranked Erick Sequeira and Rodrigo Yamauti at the No. 1 position.  Andre Ivarsson and Carlos Benatzky teamed to take an 8-4 victory at the No. 3 slot.  T.C. Valle and Henrik Willers took an 8-5 win at the No. 2 position.

In singles play, Georgia College & State University (15-10) claimed its point when Yamauti defeated Ivarsson in straight sets by scores of 6-4, and 6-3 at the No. 3 position.  However, any hope was dashed just minutes later when Wilkinson took a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Max Beliankou at the No. 4 slot and Nick Tzekos claimed a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 6 over Melvin Smith to deliver the match to Lander.

Match Results
Lander 5, Georgia College & State University 1
Singles
#3  Rodrigo Yamauti (GCSU) def. Andre Ivarsson (Lander); 6-4, 6-3
#4  George Wilkinson (Lander) def. Max Beliankou (GCSU); 6-0, 6-3
#6  Nick Tzekos (Lander) def. Melvin Smith (GCSU); 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
#1  Nicolas Legros/Guilherme Fonseca (Lander) def. Erick Sequeira/Rodrigo Yamauti (GCSU); 8-4
#2  T.C. Valle/Henrik Willers (Lander) def. Giovane Nucci/Melvin Smith (GCSU); 8-5
#3  Andre Ivarsson/Carlos Benatzky (Lander) def. Matt Belenchia/Joao Casagrande (GCSU); 8-4