This morning, after their first-round byes, the men's and women's tennis teams competed in the Southeastern Conference Championship Tournament quarterfinals in Starkville and Oxford, respectively. Unlike typical matches during the regular season, the compressed scheduling of the tournament means that play continues only until one team clinches the fourth of the seven possible points to determine a winner.
Your UGA men soundly defeated Auburn by a 4-0 score. The Bulldog women likewise downed the USC Gamecocks 4-0. The ladies accomplished this feat without freshman sensation Lauren Herring, who normally plays at the No. 2 spot in doubles and singles. Lauren has an arm injury that's kept her out of action.
The men's team's participation in the tournament resumes tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. local time (noon actual time) against the winner of Tennessee versus Mississippi State, currently under way (the other Bulldogs lead 1-0). The women get back to the courts tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. local (11:00 here in the east) against the winner of Alabama/Arkansas (Bama leads 1-0).
UPDATE: The women's semifinal opponent will be Bama, who defeated Arkansas 4-0. The Lady Crimson Tide (there's something very wrong with that) finished one spot ahead of the Dawgs in the regular-season conference standings and defeated UGA 4-3 in the season's antepenultimate match. Let's get that one back.
UPDATE THE SECOND: Mississippi State just staved off a comeback attempt by the Vols to win 4-2, earning a spot opposite the UGA men in tomorrow's semifinals.