No. 4 Georgia Men's Tennis Blanks Georgia Tech, 7-0
ATHENS, Ga. - The fourth-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team blanked Georgia Tech, 7-0, at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs (6-0) beat the Yellow Jackets (4-5) for the 25th time in 26 matches dating back to 1989 and improved to 51-2 in the series since 1969.
Georgia Tech won the first completed doubles match at No. 1, where the nation's second-ranked pair of Kevin King and Juan Spir defeated eighth-ranked Garrett Brasseaux and Wil Spencer, 8-2. However, Georgia came back at No. 3 as Nathan Pasha and Ignacio Taboada cruised past Dusan Miljevic and Eduardo Segura, 8-3. Sadio Doumbia and Hernus Pieters then clinched the point for the Bulldogs at No. 2 with an 8-4 win over Vikram Hundal and Juan Melian.
It was the sixth time in as many matches this year the Bulldogs won the doubles point.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” said head coach Manuel Diaz. “We had to take a chance in doubles. Our No. 2 and 3 teams really played phenomenal. The doubles teams are really starting to gel and play at a high level.”
Georgia won the first sets of all four matches to start singles, including at No. 4, where No. 64 Pieters beat Miljevic, 6-4, 6-2, to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. KU Singh extended the lead to 3-0 with his 6-4, 7-5 win over Spir at No. 2, then 26th-ranked Taboada clinched the match at No. 3 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Melian.
Tenth-ranked Doumbia, who moved up to No. 1 when Spencer was pulled from the singles lineup, made it 5-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over ninth-ranked King at No. 1. Then Campbell Johnson earned a 6-3, 6-1 win over Sebastian Lopez at No. 6, and Georgia’s seventh point came at No. 5 where Pasha downed Segura in a super tiebreaker, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 1-0(10).
“After Wil was out of the singles lineup, we moved everybody up, and that was a steep challenge,” Diaz said. “But our guys played great and Sadio did a super job. He continues to improve and is playing better and better.”
The Bulldogs are now 58-9 all-time against Georgia Tech.
“It feels good to get back on my feet,” Johnson said. “We played well today and everyone was at their best. I think this match gives us a lot of momentum going into National Indoors. We have to play well, and I think we will.”
Georgia will play again Friday at noon against Cal in the ITA National Indoor Tournament in Charlottesville, Va.
LSU Defeats Tulane, 6-1, Behind Solid Play Across Entire Lineup
The LSU Lady Tigers Tennis team (3-2) produced a strong performance across the board as they handed the Tulane Green Wave (6-1) their first loss of the season at the W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium on Tuesday.
“I am really excited about this win,” LSU head coach Tony Minnis said. “Tulane is a very solid team, so I thought we did a great job of coming out and winning the doubles point and then quickly jumping on them in singles. We need to keep what we did today going as we move forward, and look to improve as the season progresses.”
Olivia Howlett and Yvette Vlaar got the Lady Tigers on the board first in doubles as they defeated Caroline Thornton and Caroline Magnusson 8-6 on court two. Tulane quickly evened the doubles tie on court three as Kaitlin Burns and Ebie Wilson fell to Lindsay Dvorak and Hila Elster.
Keri Frankenberger and Whitney Wolf proved up to the challenge once again however, as they came out firing on all cylinders in a doubles point-deciding tiebreaker on court one. The pair battled back from having conceded an early lead in the pro set to win 9-8 (7-1), clinching the doubles point for LSU.
Vlaar then kept the momentum going into singles as she beat Dvorak 6-4, 6-2 on court six to give the Lady Tigers a 2-0 overall lead in the match. Wolf fell 7-6 (7-0), 7-5 to Mariam Kurdadze on court one.
Keri Frankenberger next brought LSU a point away from winning the overall match with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph on court five.
Howlett then clinched the match with a three-set victory over Emma Levy on court two. The senior produced big forehand after big forehand in the final set to keep her run of good form going as she has won seven of her last 10 matches.
Ebie Wilson prevailed in two sets on court four 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), with the second set tiebreaker making for one of the more drama-filled segments of the day.
Kaitlin Burns finished the day in style for the Lady Tigers as she grinded out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory on court three giving LSU a 6-1 victory in the overall match. Burns is one of the most in-form Lady Tigers at the moment as she is 7-3 in her last 10 singles matches.
The Lady Tigers have now won two-straight matches, and they lead the all-time series with Tulane 31-4.
LSU will travel to the West Coast next as they get set to take on San Diego Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CT on Sunday.