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WTEN: Bulldogs advance to NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship Finals

Three Bulldogs made program history with individual victories as Anastasiia Lopata advanced to the NCAA Singles Final while the duo of Aysegul Mert and Dasha Vidmanova secured their spot in the NCAA Doubles Final at the Greenwood Tennis Center on Friday.

Fast Facts

• Anastasiia Lopata won her seventh-consecutive match in eight days of competition, earning her career highest-ranked victory after an upset 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 2 Amelia Rajecki (NC State).

• The duo of Aysegul Mert and Dasha Vidmanova earned their 30th win of the season, knocking off Celia-Belle Mohr and Anessa Lee (Vanderbilt), 6-4, 6-4 to extend their doubles winning streak to six matches while taking 10 of their last 11.

• Anastasiia Lopata becomes the sixth Bulldog in program history to advance to the NCAA Singles Championship Final and the first since Katarina Jokic in 2019.

• Aysegul Mert and Dasha Vidmanova become the sixth doubles duo in program history to reach the NCAA Doubles Championship Final and the first since Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase in 2014.

• For the first time in program history, the Georgia women’s tennis team has reached the NCAA Championship team, singles, and doubles final.

Up Next

Georgia will cap off its 2024 season with the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship Finals on Saturday, May 25. In singles, Lopata will face No. 8 Alexa Noel (Miami) at 12 p.m. ET while in doubles, Mert and Vidmanova will compete against No. 1 Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen (Pepperdine) following the conclusion of both singles finals.

SB: Dawgs’ season ends in Super Regional

The No. 11 national seed Georgia softball team concluded the 2024 season Friday evening at Eaton Stadium, dropping a 6-1 decision to No. 6 UCLA.

Georgia concludes the season with a 43-19 record in its 13^th Super Regional appearance in program history.

Fast Facts

• Lyndi Rae Davis scattered two hits, her seventh multi-hit game of the season. She drove in Georgia’s lone run in the first inning.

• Senior Riley Orcutt finished the game in the circle in front of a home crowd. Orcutt is from Newport Beach, less than an hour from UCLA.

• Dallis Goodnight and Jayda Kearney each contributed a hit in the game. Goodnight finishes the season with a nine-game on-base streak.

• Lilli Backes pitched four and two-thirds innings out of the pen, allowing three earned runs. She walked none and struck out two.

Key Quotes

Head Coach Tony Baldwin

Opening statement

“Congratulations to UCLA, they really put themselves in a position where they’re playing good softball in all phases of the game. I think they’re about as complete a team as we’ve played and we’ve played a lot of good ones. They certainly executed in all phases of the game, they are well well-coached, and they play the game the right way. I really have a lot of respect for them and their players. Thank you to all the people who put on the event, it was well organized and the communication was great. This is what college softball is all about, the atmosphere was amazing. Ultimately, the outcome is what it is, but at this point, we’ll celebrate the seniors that we’ve had and the season that we had, and we’ll spend the rest of the night and weekend talking about the good times and memories that we created together.”

On what the senior class meant to him…

“They’re just good kids. Good people, that have grown. We all have shortcomings that we’re trying to overcome in our lives, and you have to tackle some of those things head-on. I think the beautiful thing about college softball, and what I hope Georgia softball is it’s a safe place to grow as a person. Softball is the vehicle that we get to use to try to become that person that we want to be, and what I see is Jayda Kearney come from a 13-year-old little girl to a strong and confident 22-23-year-old. What I see is Sara Mosley go through hardship in her life, and to see her grow and become a teammate and the player that she is. I see all of their individual stories. The outcomes are the outcomes, in our profession in our softball game, we’re led to believe this is the most important thing in the world. Its President Biden then Tony Baldwin, that’s the order of importance. The truth of the matter is I coach softball, and I get to invest in young women and be a part of their lives at an important time. I got into coaching because I had a coach invest in me at an important time in my life and it set me on a path. If I can be that for these young women, then the outcomes will take care of themselves. I see their stories, I see the work that they put in, the growth that they’ve made. I look at somebody like Sydney Kuma, nobody in her high school had ever gone on to play Division I athletics, let alone softball. I think her high school had a 35% dropout rate, yet she went across the country. Not only did she flourish on the softball field, but she graduated and set herself up for the rest of her life as a young woman, that’s what this is all about. I would’ve liked to have more hits and maybe score some more runs tonight, but at the end of the day, it’s not going to change the fact that they’ve grown a lot. I’m incredibly proud of them, I love them to death and I’m looking forward to giving them one more hug before it’s all said and done.”

On fans traveling to support them in California…

“I think it’s part of what makes college athletics great, and certainly what makes it great at a place like Georgia is that we’ve got a great fan base, Bulldog Nations behind us. We had record crowds this year; we set all kinds of different records, and I hope that’s because people can connect with the program we have and the way we do it. They see that our players work hard, are incredibly proud to represent the ‘G,’ and they give it the best they can every time they’re out there. We certainly appreciate the support and are very thankful.”

UGA Postgame Presser

MBB: Anthony Goins named assistant coach

Anthony Goins, who has a consistent history of winning basketball at every stop in his coaching career, has been named assistant coach for the Georgia Bulldogs, head coach Mike White announced on Friday.

Goins has spent the past three seasons at Boston College and also sports stints at Clemson, Quinnipiac, Yale and Dartmouth over the last 11 years.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join Georgia Basketball,” Goins said. “Coach White and his staff have done an unbelievable job building the Georgia program the past two years. I could feel the energy and momentum the moment I got on campus. I’m extremely appreciative of Coach White for giving me the opportunity. Coach Grant, the staff and everyone around Boston College have been unbelievable the past three years, but I can’t wait to get to work in Athens!”

Boston College has increased its win total during each of Goins’ season with the Eagles, culminating with a 20-16 finish and a bid to the NIT in 2023-24. Boston College reached the round of 16 in the NIT and in the process secured the Eagles’ first 20-win campaign and first postseason victory since 2011.

Goins was an assistant coach at Clemson for two seasons from 2019-21, helping the Tigers secure a bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

From 2017-19, Goins was on the staff at Quinnipiac. During the 2018-19 season, the Bobcats finished 16-15 to notch their first winning record in five years. Quinnipiac also received a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) in 2019, just QU’s fifth postseason appearance ever.

Goins enjoyed a trio of successful seasons at Yale from 2014-17. The Bulldogs finished 22-10 overall and 11-3 in his year in New Haven to secure the Bulldogs’ first Ivy League title since 2002. Yale improved to 23-7 overall and 13-1 in league play during the 2015-16 campaign, both school-record win totals. The Bulldogs won the Ivy League championship outright to garner the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid in 54 years. Yale, a No. 12 seed, then upset fifth-seeded Baylor in first round of “March Madness,” the first NCAA victory ever for the Bulldogs.

Goins’ collegiate career began at Dartmouth in 2013-14, where he helped the Big Green to their highest win total in 15 seasons.

Goins also spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Salisbury Prep School in Connecticut, which compiled a combined 64-18 record during his tenure.

Originally from Greensboro, N.C., Goins graduated from Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, Va. He received his bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from St. John’s in 2008. While an undergrad, Goins served as a practice player for the men’s team and helped with women’s practices as well.

Athletic Association Board of Directors approve $192.7 budget for 2025 fiscal year

A fiscal year 2025 budget of $192.7 million was unanimously approved by the University of Georgia Athletic Association Board of Directors at its annual two-day spring meeting that concluded Friday. 

The budget projection for 2025 represents nearly a 10 percent increase from the 2024 budget of $175.2 million. 

Day two agenda items included a student wellness report, presentations from student representatives Caterina Don and Parker Duncan and a treasurer’s report from Ryan Nesbit. 

Don thanked the board for their dedication to student-athlete well-being. She highlighted several community service projects, including the MLK Day of Service, the Special Olympics event at Foley Field and Dawgs for Pups. She also mentioned several personal development events that were vital to student-athlete success this season. Overall, 55 student-athletes secured internships and admission into field study or study abroad programs. 

Duncan discussed the increased student attendance at Georgia men’s basketball games this past season and thanked the board for action taken to move the student section closer to the court. The student body responded by showing up in large numbers. The average student ticket scan went from 1,139 per game in 2022-23 to to 1,740 in 2023-24  — a 52.7 percent increase. When looking at SEC home games at Stegeman, the average numbers of students that attended jumped from 1,364 in 2022-23 to 2,130 in 2023-24 — a 56.1 percent increase. 

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