(Photo by John Kelley)
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The victory means the Bulldogs finish the regular season with an 18-5 overall record and an 11-2 record in the SEC. It also sees them conclude the season tied for second in the SEC standings with Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Florida, who was victorious at home against Tennessee on Sunday, finished first.
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“I’m really proud of the group today,” said head coach Jeff Wallace. “We lost a close, hard-fought doubles match but turned things around in singles with quick wins by Hannah and Silvia. They were playing some great tennis. Caroline did a great job staying mentally tough on a day when things weren’t necessarily going her way. Then we had Kennedy step up in the third set and play like a champion to clinch it for us. We’re now looking forward to getting back to Athens in order to prepare for the postseason ahead.”
[su_spacer size=”40″]Freshman Kennedy Shaffer clinched the match for the Bulldogs from the No. 3 court with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 singles win over Brigit Folland. It was the Rossford, Ohio, native’s tenth SEC dual match win of the season and her 14th overall since joining the team in January.
[su_spacer size=”40″]Fellow freshman Hannah King also joined Shaffer with ten conference wins after claiming a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Natalie Looney on court 6 to pull the Bulldogs level after they had dropped the doubles point. Sophomore Caroline Brinson was another to join the ten-conference-win club with a 7-5, 6-2 defeat of Hadley Berg, while junior Silvia Garcia pulled Georgia ahead on the afternoon with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory on court 2.
[su_spacer size=”40″]Senior Lauren Herring’s match on court 1 went unfinished, while freshman Mariana Gould dropped a hard-fought, third-set tiebreaker battle on court 4.
[su_spacer size=”40″]Georgia will now return home for a few days of practice before making a return trip to Columbia for the SEC Tournament, which will take place from April 15-19 at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Bulldogs earned the No. 2 seed for the tournament by virtue of their head-to-head wins over Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, meaning they will begin play on Friday at 2 p.m. against the winner of Mississippi State vs. South Carolina.
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Singles Results
1. #60 Elixane Lechemia (SC) vs. #8 Lauren Herring (UGA), 2-6, 7-3, 3-0 unfinished
2. #91 Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. Caroline Dailey (SC), 6-1, 6-0
3. #69 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. Brigit Folland (SC) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
4. Meghan Blevins (SC) def. Mariana Gould (UGA), 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(2)
5. #110 Caroline Brinson (UGA) def. Hadley Berg (SC), 7-5, 6-2
6. #82 Hannah King (UGA) def. Natalie Looney (SC), 6-1, 6-0
[su_spacer size=”40″]Doubles Results
1. #58 Berg/Dailey (SC) def. #20 Herring/Perez (UGA), 8-7(1)
2. #25 Garcia/Shaffer (UGA) def. #37 Blevins/Folland (SC), 8-0
3. Cochran/Lechemia (SC) def. Brinson/Patterson (UGA), 8-6
[su_spacer size=”40″]Order of Finish: Singles (6,2,5,4,3) Doubles (2,1,3)