It came down to a nail-biting finish Sunday. A near-capacity crowd at Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center hung on every shot, glancing from one court to the other.

Would, in fact, Tennessee's clinching point in a 4-0 NCAA tournament victory over Virginia Tech come from Kaden Hensel on the No. 1 court, or from Davey Sandgren on No. 4?

It was Sandgren who supplied the final stroke and sent UT (23-3) on to the round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla.

A race to see who's going on record for clinching a 4-0 win, that's the kind of suspense a coach can live with.

"It was fun to watch,'' confirmed Sam Winterbotham.

"Nobody was pressing. As a coach, there wasn't much to do.''

Sandgren won a second-set tie-breaker, 7-3, over Tech's Pedro Graber to get the point (6-4, 7-6) and clinch the second-round victory that sends UT to the main draw for the first time since 2005.

The eighth-seed Vols (23-3) meet ninth-seed Baylor at 1 p.m. (ET) Friday. Baylor beat Texas A&M 4-2 Sunday in Waco, Texas, to advance.

While Sandgren's tie-breaker was going on, Hensel was jockeying through several match points at No. 1 singles with Albert Larregola.

"I had no idea (Sandgren) was close to closing it out,'' said Hensel. "It really doesn't matter as long as we get the victory.''

The Vols already had singles wins from Boris Conkic at No. 3 (7-5, 6-1) and J.P. Smith at No. 2 (6-2, 6-3).

Tennessee won the doubles point for the 21st time in 26 matches.

Hensel and Smith, the nation's fourth-ranked pair, improved to 20-4 at No. 1 with an 8-2 victory.

Conkic and partner Matteo Fago clinched the point with an 8-3 win at No. 3 over a strong Virginia Tech tandem that came in with an 18-3 record.

"That gave us the momentum we needed,'' said Winterbotham.

Because the match was moved indoors due to excessive wind, only four singles matches could be played at a time.

That was sufficient, so sharp was No. 8-ranked Tennessee against the 30th-ranked Hokies.

The Vols had clawed out a 4-3 win over Virginia Tech (16-9) here two months ago with Tech winning the doubles point. Sunday, UT was in command, never dropping a set.

"If we can play as well as we played today,'' said Smith, a freshman from Australia, "I think we can do well in Tulsa.

"We beat Virginia Tech 4-0 and they're a good team.''

On a freshman-dominated squad, only senior Hensel has been to the round of 16 previously.

"I'm the only guy on the team who knows what to expect,'' he said. "It's a good accomplishment (to go back) but I think we can go a lot farther.

"I'm looking forward to it a lot. We've got a great team. We're all feeling good. We bonded really well this semester.

"Fingers crossed."

Sandgren, a sophomore, has an idea what to expect in Tulsa.

"That's a windy city every time I've been there,'' he said. "I'm not looking forward to the site but I am looking forward to the tournament.''

Winterbotham is looking forward to seeing how Sandgren, his only American, fares in Tulsa.

"Where Davey has come from the start of the year until now is phenomenal,'' Winterbotham said.

"He has absolutely busted his gut for seven months to turn around what was, in his eyes, a poor start for the year.

"You can see the confidence he has and the commitment to finish up those matches.''

Just like the one he finished up Sunday.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.