I know you’re getting geared up for Saturday’s showdown (such as it is) between the hedges, but don’t forget that the University of Georgia fields teams in a myriad of sports, some of which (unlike the football team) are made up of women, and some of which (also unlike the football team) have managed to win a couple along the way. Here is your brief rundown of Friday’s female athletics action:
The Bulldog lady netters got their season underway in round-robin tournament action on the first day of the Georgia Tech Invitational, taking four of seven singles matches and all three doubles competitions.
Two of the Georgia ladies fell to their Yale counterparts in singles, while another was defeated by a Georgia Tech competitor, but victories were carded by Maho Kowase, 6-0, 6-2, and by Lilly Kimbell, 7-6, 6-3. Kate Fuller added a 6-2, 6-3 triumph of her own, and Lauren Herring capped it all off with a 6-1, 7-5 win in her first match with the Red and Black. Herring outlasted Yale’s Annie Sullivan, who did not prove to be a miracle worker against the local Bulldogs.
In tandem action, Herring added another victory, joining Fuller in an 8-4 win over Oklahoma State. It was one of a trio of 8-4 triumphs over the Cowgirls, as the teams of Kimbell and Kowase, and Rachael Hart and Alina Jerjomina, also outlasted OSU duets.
The Georgia women’s tennis team will be back in action at 2:00 Saturday afternoon.
In Knoxville on Friday night, the Red and Black ladies dropped to 4-7 for the season when Tennessee (8-2) swept the visiting Athenians in straight sets, 25-19, 25-20, 25-21. Over the course of the contest, the Volunteers registered 51 kills to Georgia’s 32.
The lone bright spot for the Bulldogs was outside hitter Kathleen Luft, who contributed four kills, three aces, three digs, and two blocks to the cause.
The Red and Black were in Greensboro, N.C., to take on the representatives of the local campus of the University of North Carolina. The Bulldogs out-shot their hosts by a 19-5 margin, building a 3-1 lead at the break and adding another goal in the second period en route to Georgia’s sixth victory in eight games this season.
Ashley Miller got the scoring underway in the eighth minute of the opening half, and Madeline Barker stretched the visitors’ advantage to 2-0 in the 22nd minute with an assist from national player of the week Alexa Newfield. UNCG cut into the lead 17 seconds later, but Georgia reclaimed its two-goal edge on the season’s first score by Torri Allen in the 40th minute. Susannah Dennis added her initial goal for the autumn in the second half at the 81:42 mark.
UNCG’s six saves kept the home team from being routed in a game in which the fouls (12), corners (5), and offsides (2) were even.
Go ‘Dawgs!