TENNIS NCAA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS : USD Upsets No. 13 Harvard; UCLA Next

Unranked J.R. Edwards upset No. 17 Mike Zimmerman to lead University of San Diego to 5-3 victory over Harvard in the first round of the NCAA men’s team tennis championships Friday at Indian Wells.

USD is ranked 17th nationally, Harvard 13th. USD will play No. 2 UCLA today at 4; in an earlier meeting this season, UCLA won, 5-4.

Playing at No. 3 singles, Edwards won the first set Friday, 6-1, but was taken to a tiebreaker in the second before winning it, 9-7. Another key match for USD (22-5) was the comeback victory of Dan Mattera over Harvard’s Mark Leschley, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Mattera trailed, 3-1, in the third set but came back to win five games in a row. A loss would have put USD down, 4-2, after singles.

Edwards and Jose Luis Noriega defeated Mike Shyjan and Zimmerman of Harvard (15-6), 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, and a 6-4, 6-3 victory by Bob Mehran and Chris Toomey over Roger Berry and Leschley at No. 3 doubles clinched.