Both 58th-ranked UC Santa Barbara and 70th-ranked Radford University were unable to stem the tide against powerhouses Stanford and Georgia, ranked 22nd and 5th respectively, while over in the NCAA Division I women's team championship, the 38th-ranked Washington Huskies were also eliminated by No. 31 Texas A&M at the Regionals in Palo Alto. However, none of the three Hong Kong representatives involved lost their singles match-ups either.

At picturesque Malibu, against 124th-ranked Richard Wire (Stanford) at the three spot, senior Jack Hui (UCSB), playing in his final tournament before graduation, was trailing by a set but battled back to lead 4-0 in the second with a double break in hand when Blake Muller (Stanford) clinched the winning point against Alex Konigsfeldt at No. 4 singles.

The Gauchos' loss to the Cardinals also marked Jack's final game as a collegian. As if it needed further proof that there are no easy matches at the NCAAs, UCSB was pitted against USC in the first round last year, and now Stanford in the opening round in this post-season.

At the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Georgia, 103rd-ranked Martin Sayer (Radford) conceded the opening set to reigning All-American Championship winner and 4th-ranked, Travis Helgeson (Georgia), at number one singles but was on his way to bagging the second set when he was serving for it leading 5-3, 30-15. It was at that point, however, when 59th-ranked Luis Flores (Georgia) managed to beat James Lloyd (Radford) at the three spot to clinch it for Georgia.

"I felt good about the match even though I lost the first set. Things were looking up pretty good for the third too. Some of the people there said they felt I had the upper hand going into the third. But it was a pretty even match though, obviously," said Martin upon returning to Radford before the Singles Championship begins on May 21 in Tulsa.

Martin has been an automatic selection to start in the NCAA Men's Division I Singles Championship for the third straight time. In his rookie season, he beat Marcus Echtler (Stetson) in the first round, 7-6(8), 6-3, before falling to eventual runner-up, and a red-hot Somdev Dev Varman (Virginia), 6-3, 6-4, in the round of 32.

Last year, he beat 18th-ranked Adam Holmstrom (Denver), who was one of the 9th-16th seeds, in the first round, 7-5, 7-6(4), before it ended with a 7-6(1), 6-3 setback in the round of 32 against 21st-ranked Greg Ouellette (Florida), who is currently ranked No. 2 in all of NCAA and this year's second seed behind Somdev Dev Varman.

The word from eyewitness accounts, as well as from Ouellette's own coach at Florida was that the win against Martin was one of Ouellette's finest matches as a collegian up to that point in time.

At the Taube Family Tennis Center in Palo Alto, the first completed match occurred at number one singles where 37th-ranked Venise Chan dusted off 104th-ranked Elze Potgieter (A&M) in double quick time to register a swift 6-4, 6-1, win to pull Washington back on level terms at one apiece. However, just when Joyce Ardies (Washington) and Kelsey Anonsen (Washington) had taken a lead at the fourth and fifth spots respectively, Christi Liles (A&M) clinched the win for the Aggies at the two spot with a 6-3, 6-3, win over Aleksandra Malovic (Washington).

The season is not yet over for Martin Sayer and Venise Chan, however, as they are both slated for the NCAA Division I Individual Singles Championships, scheduled to start on May 21 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at the University of Tulsa.

According to gohuskies.com, "Venise Chan, named the ITA Northwest Region Player to Watch for 2009, will now look to write a more storybook ending for the season as she will be the first Husky to compete in the individual championship since Dea Sumantri in 2005. If she reaches the Round of 16, Chan would become the program's fifth All-American".

That is to say, should our HK reps both reach the round of 16 respectively; Martin will become the first player from the territory to claim Singles All-America Honours, while Venise would become the second player to do so in the women's equivalent since the legendary Pat Hy (UCLA) first achieved the feat in the mid-1980s.

May the Force be with you both.

Results
NCAA Division I Men's Team Championship
Ralph-Straus Tennis Center, Pepperdine University
9 - 10 May 2008

First Round
(22)STANFORD defeated (58)UC SANTA BARBARA   4 - 0

Doubles
1. Muller/Bruch (Stanford) d. Therp/Hejazii (UCSB) 9-8(6)
2. Clayton/Kelly (Stanford) v. Finklestein/Konigsfeldt (UCSB) 7-8 DNF
3. Wire/Hirshman (Stanford) d. Dalskov/Hui (UCSB) 8-4
Singles
1. (7)Alex Clayton (Stanford) d. Philip Therp (UCSB) 6-1 6-4
2. (80)Matt Bruch (Stanford) d. Bijan Hejazi 6-2 4-5 DNF
3. (124)Richard Wire (Stanford) v. Jack Hui (UCSB) 6-3 0-4 DNF
4. Blake Muller (Stanford) d. Alex Konigsfeldt (UCSB) 6-3 6-1
5. Phils Kao (Stanford) v. Anders Dalskov 6-2 4-1 DNF
6. Greg Hirshman (Stanford) d. Max Taylor 6-2 6-0

Results
NCAA Division I Men's Team Championship
Dan Magill Tennis Center, University of Georgia
9 - 10 May 2008

First Round
(5)GEORGIA defeated (70)RADFORD   4 - 0

Doubles
1. Hunt/Shnugg (Georgia) d. Sayer/Watson (Radford) 8-3
2. Flores/Garrapiz (Georgia) v. Benhammou/Salec (Radford) 6-4 DNF
3. Helgeson/Vitulli (Georgia) d. Lloyd/Boslet (Radford) 8-1
Singles
1. (4)Travis Helgeson (Georgia) v. (103)Martin Sayer (Radford) 6-4 3-5 DNF
2. (15)Nate Schnugg (Georgia) d. Ivan Salec (Radford) 6-1 6-2
3. (56)Luis Flores (Georgia) d. James Lloyd (Radford) 6-4 6-1
4. (38)Jamie Hunt (Georgia) v. Mehdi Benhammou (Radford) 6-2 5-5 DNF
5. (121)Javier Garrapiz (Georgia) v. Zack Watson (RU) 6-1 5-2 DNF
6. Christian Vitulli (Georgia) d. Paul Boslet (Radford) 6-0 6-1

Results
NCAA Division I Women's Team Championship
Taube Family Tennis Center, Stanford University
9 - 10 May 2008

First Round
(31)TEXAS A&M defeated (38)WASHINGTON   4 - 1

Doubles
1. (51)Blagodarova/Clifford (A&M) d. Ardies/Simpson (Washington) 8-4
2. Anonsen/Chan (Washington) v. Liles/Potgieter (A&M) 6-7 DNF
3. Davidson/Frank (A&M) d. Malovic/Radunovic (Washington) 8-4
Singles
1. (37)Venise Chan (Washington) d. (104)Elze Potgieter (A&M) 6-4 6-1
2. Christi Liles (A&M) d. Aleksandra Malovic (Washington) 6-3 6-3
3. Anna Blagodarova (A&M) d. Tara Simpson (Washington) 6-0 6-3
4. Joyce Ardies (Washington) v. Morgan Frank (A&M) 7-6(5) 2-2 DNF
5. Kelsey Anonsen (Washington) v. Tiffany Clifford (A&M) 6-2 4-6 2-0 DNF
6. Stephanie Davidson (A&M) d. Allison Rainey (Washington) 6-3 6-1

Jack Hui photo courtesy of cstv.ucsbgauchos.com
Martin Sayer photo courtesy of Radford Men's Tennis