After Thursday’s dramatic victory in the first round of the NCAA Doubles Tournament, Valparaiso University men’s tennis players Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg) and Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) kept blood pressures at normal levels on Friday afternoon by cruising their way to a straight sets victory in the Round of 32 in Athens, Ga.

The No. 41 Valpo duo dispatched No. 19 Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton (Ole Miss) 6-3, 6-4, repeating their success from a win over the same Rebels’ combo last fall. The victory allowed Schorsch and Emhardt to march into the quarterfinals, which will take place on Saturday.

By virtue of reaching the national quarterfinals, Schorsch and Emhardt earn All-American honors in doubles, becoming the first tennis All-Americans in the history of Valparaiso University. The criteria for becoming an ITA Doubles All-American is to be a top eight seed in the NCAA Doubles Championships, finish in the Top 10 of the final Oracle/ITA National Doubles Rankings or reach the quarterfinals in the NCAA Doubles Championships.

Schorsch and Emhardt got off to a favorable start in Set 1, rolling their way to victories in each of the first three games, including a point at deuces in Game 1 and a break of serve in Game 2. However, Fallert and Hamilton bounced back by taking consecutive games to trim the deficit to 3-2. It was all Valpo from there, with the Crusaders holding serve three times and breaking once to collect four of the final five games. That nailed down a 6-3 win in the opening set for the Crusader combo.

Fallert and Hamilton served first in Set 2, and Valpo put the Rebels in an immediate hole by breaking serve in the first game to go up 1-0. Emhardt and Schorsch picked up that game in comeback style, coming from down 40-15. That momentum carried over into the second game, when the Crusaders cruised to the win with four straight points.

Ole Miss took the next three games to go up 3-2 and put the set back on serve. The Crusaders responded by winning the next three games to go back up a break and claim a 5-3 lead in the set. The Rebels held serve in the following game, but then the Crusaders did the same to nail down the 6-4 victory.

As a pair, Schorsch and Emhardt are now 22-6 this season. Schorsch took over sole ownership of the team’s single-season doubles win record with his 31^st doubles victory of the 2016-17 campaign. Emhardt continued to rack up career doubles wins, furthering his program record with his 117^th such triumph.

The Crusaders will face another tough test on Saturday, this time in the form of the No. 1 doubles team in the nation. They’ll be up against top-ranked Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb (Georgia), who defeated No. 11 Jack Findel-Hawkins and Lasse Muscheites (North Florida) 7-5, 6-4 in Friday’s second round.

The time of the quarterfinal match will be released on Friday evening. Links to live video and scoring can be found on ValpoAthletics.com.