Bulldog Men's and Women's Tennis Teams Dominate Georgia Friday Sports Action

It’s a bye week for the football team, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other University of Georgia undergraduates engaged in intercollegiate competition this weekend. Because it’s tough to keep up with every athletic endeavor in which the Bulldogs field a team, we here at Dawg Sports like to provide brief synopses of the latest events in the Red and Black’s Olympic sports. Here is what you need to know in order to remain up to date on all things Georgia:

On Thursday, the same day Manuel Diaz announced that KU Singh is transferring to Georgia and will be eligible to play in January, three current Red and Black men’s tennis players advanced to the main draw of the ITA Southeast Regional Championships, bringing to eight the total number of Bulldogs participating in Friday’s 64-man singles draw. In the main event, held in Athens, six male netters moved on to the second round of singles play.

Though Garrett Brasseaux and Will Reynolds both fell to in-state opponents, victories were carded by Eric Diaz (7-5, 7-5), Sadio Doumbia (6-2, 6-1), Campbell Johnson (7-5, 4-6, 6-4), Nathan Pasha (6-2, 6-1), Hernus Pieters (6-4, 6-3), and Ignacio Taboada (6-1, 6-0). The six Athenians remaining in the singles draw give Georgia the most players in the second round.

The Bulldogs fared even better in doubles, where the Red and Black fielded four of the eight tandems to emerge from the second round of competition. Diaz and Will Oliver survived the opening round, 8-5, before dropping an 8-2 decision to their Florida counterparts in the round of 16. The remaining Georgia teams, however, all made it through two matches, with Brasseaux and Wil Spencer (8-2, 8-3), Doumbia and Pasha (8-3, 8-2), Johnson and Reynolds (8-6, 8-6), and Pieters and Taboada (8-4, 8-4) all advancing. The doubles quarterfinals get underway at 9:00 Saturday morning, with the singles round of 32 resuming at 11:00 a.m.

On the distaff side, the Bulldog lady netters ventured into the belly of the beast for the other ITA Southeast Regional in Gainesville, Fla., where the Georgia women’s tennis team went a combined 9-0 on Friday. In singles play, five Bulldogs won straight-set opening-round matches over representatives of Sunshine State-based universities when Kate Fuller (6-0, 6-3 over Jacksonville’s Natalia Melibeu), Chelsey Gullickson (6-4, 6-1 over South Florida’s Alessandra Bonte), Lauren Herring (6-0, 6-0 over Florida A&M’s Kathline Durden), Alina Jerjomina (6-4, 6-0 over Stetson’s Naella Wawrinka), and Lilly Kimbell (6-2, 6-0 over Central Florida’s Jenna Doerfler) all carded victories to advance to the round of 32.

In two rounds of doubles action, Fuller and Herring dispatched the Georgia Southern and Central Florida tandems, both by 8-1 tallies, while Gullickson and Kimbell cruised past the Stetson duo, 8-0, before outdueling the Georgia State pair, 8-4.

Against No. 24 Kentucky in the Ramsey Student Center, the Georgia women’s volleyball team claimed the first set, 27-25, only to lose the next three and allow the Wildcats to take the match. Down 17-14 early, the Bulldogs outscored the Blue and White, 8-1, to capture the initial set. However, Kentucky dominated the next three sets, 25-13, 25-16, and 25-16, to up its ledger to 9-2 in league play. Lizzy Stemke’s young squad sunk to 5-6 in SEC outings and 9-12 overall.

Elite competition gathered at Knoxville, Tenn.’s Holston Hills Country Club, where 15 of the country’s top 20 golfers and 14 of the nation’s top 25 teams convened for the SEC/Pac-12 Challenge. Unfortunately, the 15th-ranked Georgia women’s golf team finished 17 over par on the first day of play, landing the Bulldogs in 17th place. The Athenians’ Milena Savich, who fired a one-over 73, concluded the opening round tied for 23rd place overall. The tournament resumes Saturday, and live scoring is available here.

Go ‘Dawgs!