Senior Alex Slovic of the Washington men's tennis team became the seventh Husky men's tennis player to earn All-American honors after his victory yesterday over Notre Dame's Stephen Bass in the NCAA singles championship. Bass was the tournament's seventh seed, and the No. 8 player in the nation.

After losing in the first round of the tournament last year and gaining entry to this year's tournament as an alternate after other players dropped out, Slovic's place in the round of 16 is especially sweet.

"I came [to Georgia], and I didn't know what was going to happen, whether I was going to play or not," Slovic said. "I was practicing, and then I heard one guy pulled out, and I was in the tournament. It felt great."

Slovic and Bass had met once before this season, when the Huskies headed to Notre Dame in March and were defeated 6-1, with Slovic falling in straight sets to Bass, 6-1, 6-4. In yesterday's match, two key factors helped Slovic avenge that loss.

"When we played before, we played at Notre Dame, where the courts were a little faster, and he was comfortable playing at home," Slovic said. "Also, I played better today than I did then."

The match wasn't easy for Slovic, who had to come back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set.

"Alex played a very solid match from start to finish," UW coach Matt Anger said. "He played one loose game and went down 4-1 in the second set, but then he rattled off the last five games for the win."

The win puts Slovic in the round of 16, where he will meet Mississippi's Robbye Poole, the No. 33 ranked player in the nation. Poole earned his way to the round of 16 with a victory over Luke Shields of Boise State, who retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 2-0.

Although Slovic is only No. 64 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, his victories in the NCAA tournament have shown that that number doesn't adequately describe his place among the country's college players.

"There are a lot of good players," Slovic said. "Even though I'm only ranked 64, I think I'm as good as those guys [who automatically qualified]. I knew my spot was in the tournament."

Reach reporter Risa Pavia at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.