Wednesday evening was a gloomy one in Georgia, between the nasty weather and the NCAA’s announcement that it was unable to uncover evidence that there was anything improper about the circumstances under which a player whose father tried to sell his services to the highest bidder ended up at a football program that has been put on probation for paying players multiple times in the last half-century, but still there is much good news in Bulldog Nation, as I will demonstrate by bringing you up to date on Georgia’s non-revenue sports. Here is what you need to know:
Forward Alexa Newfield earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this autumn with her performance in Georgia’s Friday night comeback victory over Mississippi State. Newfield is in sole possession of, or tied for, first place in the league in goals (11), points (29), shots (70), goals per game (0.79), and points per game (2.07).
Newfield also notched an assist in the Bulldogs’ 3-0 win over Ole Miss on Sunday, in which Nikki Hill scored her first career goal to become the eleventh different Georgia player to score this season. The Red and Black now stand at 10-4 overall, with a 4-2 mark in conference action.
Though the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa ended in disappointment for the ‘Dawgs, Wil Spencer represented the Athenians well by advancing to the tournament finals. His 6-1, 7-5 loss to Virginia’s Mitchell Frank did little to diminish Spencer’s 5-1 tourney run, in which he beat five ranked opponents to become the first Georgia player to reach the All-American Championship final since 2007. The loss left Spencer at 13-1 for the season, with the ITA Southeast Regional Championships next up for the Red and Black. The regional tournament will commence on October 21 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in the Classic City.
A fate similar to Spencer’s befell the Georgia women’s tennis team in Pacific Palisades, where 15th-ranked duo Nadja Gilchrist and Chelsey Gullickson came up short in the doubles semifinals of the Rivieria/ITA All-American Championships. Following their 9-8(2) quarterfinal win over Tennessee’s Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti, Gilchrist and Gullickson were defeated by Stanford’s Hilary Barte and Nicole Gibbs. The loss left the Bulldog tandem at 7-1 for the fall.
The No. 16 Georgia men’s golf team finished fourth in Macon’s Brickyard Collegiate Championship on the strength of a seven-under-par team score of 281 on Sunday. The tally was the lowest in the field on the tournament’s last day, and the Bulldogs’ leader in the final round was Bryden Macpherson, whose three-under 69 gave him his third top 20 finish of the young season.
The Red and Black lady linksters, ranked tenth in the country, tied for sixth place out of 18 teams in the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, thanks to a solid Sunday on which five Georgia golfers shot a 75 or below.
The Red and Black riders dropped a 13-10 decision to future conference rival and fellow elite equestrian program Texas A&M, coming up short against the Aggies in Bryan, Tex., despite tying the home team in reining and in equitation over fences. The Bulldogs’ Abby O’Mara earned MVP honors in the latter event, while Georgia’s Carly Anthony was named the meet’s most valuable rider in equitation on the flat. The autumn’s inaugural equestrian coaches poll has the Bulldogs ranked fourth, behind No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Texas A&M, and No. 3 South Carolina.
The women’s volleyball team rebounded from an early deficit to defeat Mississippi State on the road. . . . Georgia’s Kristie Krueger posted a top 20 finish at a cross-country invitational in South Bend, Ind. . . . The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams open their season Friday with a dual meet against Georgia Tech in Athens at 5:00 p.m.
Go ‘Dawgs!