The top-seeded University of Georgia women’s tennis team defeated No. 22nd-ranked Wake Forest, 4-0, in the Second Round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship Sunday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex to advance to the Round of 16.
This will mark the ninth-straight Round of 16 appearance for the Bulldogs, who will host No. 16-seeded Michigan on May 11 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. With the weekend wins over the Demon Deacons and Alabama State, Georgia is now 36-0 in the first two rounds when playing host.
“We knew singles was going to be super competitive,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “Wake’s got a great program, a great team. They can certainly play, and we were ready for the challenge. I thought our players did a good job to close that thing out. It’s good to see Marta [Gonzalez] getting that point, and she’s stepping it up and playing some great tennis. Lourdes [Carle] looked good start to finish. All in all, we’re excited to be in the Sweet Sixteen, excited that we get to play back here Saturday against a great Michigan team.”
The Bulldogs jumpstarted the match in doubles by going up 2-0 on all three courts. Georgia’s team of No. 28-ranked Katarina Jokic and Lourdes Carle snagged the Bulldogs’ first win of the day on court one. The pair ousted No. 34-ranked Emma Davis and Chandler Carter, 6-4, for its fourth-straight victory over a ranked opponent. Next to finish for Georgia was the tandem of Vivian Wolff and Elena Christofi, which clinched the match’s first point with a 6-4 win at the number two spot. The victory for Christofi and Wolff upped their overall record to 15-0, and sent the Bulldogs into singles action with the 1-0 advantage.
After the transition, Georgia took four first sets in singles on courts one, two, three and six. Giving the Bulldogs even more leverage, Wolff and Christofi, who dropped their first sets, each managed to make second-set comebacks on courts four and five, respectively, to force third sets.
Carle, a freshman from Daireaux, Argentina, finished first for the Bulldogs, grabbing her second singles win of the weekend and upping Georgia’s lead to 2-0. She won three-straight games to take the first set against the Deacons’ Eliza Omirou, 6-1. Carle ranked No. 69 in ITA singles, carried her momentum into the second to finish with a 6-1, 6-3 victory. With this win, she improved her overall record to 22-6 this season.
Georgia’s No. 19-ranked Gonzalez, who also took the first set, defeated her Wake Forest opponent Anna Ulyashchenko, 6-3, 7-5, on court two. The victory marked her 22nd overall win on the season, setting a new career high for the junior.
Meg Kowalski sealed top-seeded Georgia’s 4-0 victory over No. 22 Wake Forest on court six. The freshman Bulldog, who ranks No. 122 in ITA singles, put up tough fights in both sets, first by winning four-straight games in the first-set to take it 6-3. Then in the second set, after trailing 4-2, Kowalski notched five of the next six games to win the match over Deacon Peyton Pesavento, 6-3,7-5. With her ninth clinch of the season and second of the weekend, the Chicago native moved to 22-1 on the season.
Georgia improved its all-time NCAA record to 81-30. This will be Georgia’s 19th appearance in the Round of 16 since the NCAA expanded to a 64-team field in 1999.