SEC play continued as our women's tennis team travelled to Starkville yesterday while the men hosted Mississippi State in Athens. The ladies bounced back from their tough 4-3 loss at home to the Gators last weekend by soundly defeating the Other Bulldogs 7-0. The men remain undefeated in conference play after their 4-3 win over 12th-ranked Mississippi State.
Things started out rough for the guys in Athens as the Western Bulldogs took the doubles point by taking two of three, including a strong performance by the 23rd-ranked pair of Malte Stropp and Louis Cant in their 8-4 win over Georgia's Ignacio Taboada and Hernus Pieters. Our Dawgs came on strong in singles, though, with three quick wins as Taboada defeated Cant 6-2, 6-2, Sadio Doumbia defeated Stropp 6-2, 6-0, and Nathan Pasha defeated Antonio Lastre 6-0, 6-3 to take a 3-1 lead. KU Singh clinched the Georgia win at the number 2 spot with a 6-2, 6-3 win over MSU's James Chaudhry, but the visitors would not go quietly, winning the last two singles matches to make the final score a close 4-3: MSU's George Coupland defeated Pieters 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; Artem Ilyushin bested Wil Spencer 6-4, 7-5.
The UGA men are tied with Kentucky for first place in the East, whom they face at home on 30 March. Florida and Tennessee are third and fourth at 2-1 and 1-2 in conference play, respectively. South Carolina and Vandy are making themselves at home in the Eastern basement at 0-3 each. The men return to action tomorrow at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex as the other Mississippi conference foe pays a visit. Ole Miss is alone atop the Western Division standings at 3-0 in conference play, the RBBs are ranked 16th in the nation.
Meanwhile, the UGA women were in Starkville notching an impressive 7-0 win. Georgia had some help from an incomplete Mississippi State roster. The Bulldogs from the west had only five players available, so Georgia had a win in each of doubles and singles by default. Our Bulldogs went on to sweep doubles play and take a 1-0 lead, never looking back. From there, UGA had decisive victories in four of the five contested singles matches: Nadja Gilchrist defeated MSU's Naomi Tran 6-0, 6-1 at the 3 spot; Lilly Kimbell won her match against Petra Ferancova 6-0, 6-0 at number 2; Lauren Herring bested Olesya Tsigvintseva 6-0, 6-1; and Kate Fuller defeated MSU's Rosaline Dion 6-1,6-2. Chelsea Gullickson had a battle on her hands against the home team's Alexandra Perper but emerged victorious 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(10-4).
Thanks to last weekend's stumble against Florida, UGA's women's team (2-1 SEC) is tied for second in the division with Vandy behind 3-0 Florida. The team finishes their Magnolia State tour tomorrow with a trip to Oxford.
GO DAWGS!