Well hello! Grab a mint julep, cheer when the action is over, and enjoy the recap as I sub in for NCT:
Let's start with the women, who bookended the weekend by facing, and defeating, Tigers. On Friday, they faced No. 53 Memphis and had a fight on their hands. Eventually they bested the MU Tigers 4-3, but let's look at how they got to that point.
(Full recaps of the men's and women's action after the jump)
The doubles teams all handed the Tigers losses of 8-3, 8-3 and 8-5. It was in the singles portions where Memphis gave the Dawgs a run for their money. The Tigers won three of the first four matches, putting UGA in a terrible situation. UGA dropped the first two matches, but Lauren Herring got them back on track with a win over Mariya Slupska. The winning ways didn't last long as Georgia lost the next match and needed to win back to back matches to clinch victory.
...and that's what they did.
Kate Fuller handily defeated Alyssa Hibberd at 6-4, 6-2 to even the overall score at 3-3. The drama concluded in the last match as Alina Jerjomina defeated Kelly Gray 7-5, 6-3. Jerjomina is young and coach Jeff Wallace said he was very proud of her for performing under that kind of pressure, since it was the first time in her Bulldog career that she was faced with that kind of situation.
So, Jerjomina's win put UGA at an overall 4-3 for the entire match against Memphis, moving the Dawgs' record against the Western Tennessee Tigers to 4-0 overall.
On Sunday, the Lady Yellow Ball Striking Dawgs took on Clemson and absolutely never gave the other Tigers from the weekend a chance. The Doubles teams were really on a roll, beating Clemson 8-3, 8-3, and 8-2. The Tigers never really got a chance in Singles competition either, as only one of the six matches went to a third set.
What should you take away from the win on Sunday? Well, one could assume that it means Friday's match against Memphis was more of the Dawgs looking ahead to the other Tigers rather than the one in the cage with them at the moment. Clemson is (was) ranked 17th in the nation to Memphis' 53rd. For the most part, Tennis is an individual sport, where individual responsibility weighs heavily on everyone, and it seems that everyone pulled their weight on Sunday. The truth is, they just all played at an extremely high level and if they keep that up, they'll be a force to reckon with.
Now, let's move on to the Men's Team...
For the most part, the men are rolling along as well. Furman really didn't have a chance against the Bulldogs and the Law of Averages says that eventually Furman will overcome their now 35-0 deficit against the Dawgs, but I don't see it happening any time soon.
The men took the overall match 4-1, with the Dawgs' only loss coming when Wil Spencer dropped a match against Furman's Andrew Mellow. Mellow was quoted after the match saying that he really hates the color yellow, bucking the trend of the two always being tied together (this didn't happen).
Spencer is the highest ranked Bulldog on the team, but he has struggled as of late. The Dawgs have been playing strong, regardless, but they'll need him to step up as the spring schedule moves along if they're going to contend for a National Title. What works in their favor is that they'll have the chance to hit their stride as they begin SEC play this weekend against South Carolina in Columbia. When SEC competition begins, it raises everyone's game.
Feel free to cheer now. The action is over.