Saturday Sports Summary: Tennis Teams Impress at Regionals, Swim Team Extends Winning Streak

The Georgia Bulldogs football players had an open date today, but several of their fellow student-athletes from Athens spent the day engaged in intercollegiate competition, with impressive results. Here is how the Red and Black fared on Saturday:

In Athens, the Georgia men’s tennis team sent three players to the singles quarterfinals and two tandems to the doubles semifinals at the ITA Southeast Regional Championships. Top-seeded Sadio Doumbia led the way, beating Central Florida’s Francesc Aulina, 6-4, 6-3, and Florida’s Billy Federhofer, 6-2, 6-2, to make the round of eight.

Hernus Pieters encountered opponents from Kennesaw State and Florida A&M, beating the former, 6-0, 6-1, and the latter, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Ignacio Taboada took down Florida State’s Andres Bucaro, 6-4, 6-3, and Florida’s Bob van Overbeek, 7-6(5), 7-6(5). Pieters and Taboada then combined for an 8-4 doubles victory over fellow Athenians Campbell Johnson and Will Reynolds. The Bulldogs’ other successful duo, Garrett Brasseaux and Wil Spencer, dispatched Georgia Tech’s No. 1-ranked doubles team, 9-7.

In Gainesville, Fla., the Georgia women’s tennis team sent two players to the singles quarterfinals and two tandems to the doubles semifinals at the ITA Southeast Regional Championships. Lauren Herring overcame a 5-2 third-set deficit to defeat Florida’s Alex Cercone, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, before besting Florida State’s Mia Vriens, 6-4, 7-5, in the round of 16. Herring was joined among those who made it through by Chelsey Gullickson, who outlasted challengers from Georgia State, 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-6(4), and Georgia Tech, 6-0, 6-0, to make the quarterfinal field.

Both Bulldog doubles teams survived Saturday. Herring and Kate Fuller carded a come-from-behind 8-6 victory over their Yellow Jacket counterparts, while Gullickson and Lilly Kimbell took care of the opposing South Florida duo, 8-4.

In the autumn’s first home meet, the fourth-ranked Georgia equestrian team defeated seventh-ranked Kansas State, 13-7, in Bishop, Ga., to run the Red and Black’s all-time home record to 45-1. Though the two teams tied, 5-5, in the Western portion of the competition, the Bulldogs dominated the Hunter Seat events, 8-2. The Athenians took home every MVP award.

Both of Jack Bauerle’s teams claimed solid victories over visiting North Carolina, but, as tankertoad noted, the Georgia women’s swimming and diving team won its 75th consecutive home meet at Gabrielsen Natatorium on Saturday. The men prevailed over the visiting Tar Heels by a 180.5-119.5 tally, while the ladies emerged victorious by a 177-112 score. The women’s winning skein, which stretches back to November 8, 1995, is the second-longest such streak in school history, surpassed only by the 76-match Classic City winning run posted by the men’s tennis team between 1968 and 1972. The Lady Bulldogs will look to equal that achievement against Emory in their November 16 swimming and diving meet.

Following a disappointing opening round on Friday, the Georgia women’s golf team surged up the leaderboard on the strength of Milena Savich’s career-best 67. By shooting four under par over the final five holes, Savich improved her individual standing from 23rd all the way to third and moved the Bulldogs into the top ten at the tournament, which concludes tomorrow.

Frankly, that’s a pretty impressive day, so much so that I’m turning it over to you to choose the highlight of a successful Saturday. Which was the most noteworthy achievement of the day by the Red and Black? Vote in the poll, and offer your thoughts in the comments below.

Go ‘Dawgs!