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WTEN: Georgia Sweeps Kentucky in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The No. 2 Georgia women’s tennis team (11-1, 4-0 SEC) secured a 4-0 sweep over No. 58 Kentucky (6-6, 0-4 SEC) at the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Friday.

Fast Facts

• The Bulldogs now lead the all-time series 43-10 all-time against the Wildcats, winning each of the last 16 meetings against Kentucky.
• Georgia now improves its SEC winning streak to 19 matches dating back to the 2021-22 season.
• The Bulldogs opened the scoring with doubles point. #25 Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco struck first with a 6-1 win over #87 Ellie Eades and Lizzy Stevens on court one followed by #75 Aysegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry knocking off Zoe Hammond and Tess Bucher, 6-0, on court three for the clinch.
• In singles, #82 Guillermina Grant was a force on court five as she cruised past Ellie Myers, 6-2, 6-1 to doubles Georgia’s lead at 2-0.
• #1 Vidmanova followed up within minutes, securing a 6-1, 6-2 victory over #101 Hammond on court one.
• Mell Reasco secured the clinch for the Bulldogs, taking a 6-2, 6-4 win over Stevens on court three.

Results
Doubles:
1. #13 Dasha Vidmanova/Mell Reasco (UGA) def. #87 Ellie Eades/Lizzy Stevens (UK), 6-1
2. #70 Guillermina Grant/Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) vs. Julia Zhu/Asuncion Jadue (UK), 1-3, unfinished
3. #75 Aysegul Mert/Hayden Mulberry (UGA) def. Zoe Hammond/Tess Bucher (UK), 6-0

Singles:
1. #1 Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) def. #101 Zoe Hammond (UK), 6-1, 6-2 
2. #48 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) vs. #66 Julia Zhu (UK), 6-2, 2-3, unfinished
3. Mell Reasco (UGA) def. Lizzy Stevens (UK), 6-2, 6-4
4. #41 Aysegul Mert (UGA) vs. Tess Bucher (UK), 6-4, 5-0, unfinished
5. #82 Guillermina Grant (UGA) vs. Ellie Myers (UK), 6-2, 6-1
6. Sofia Rojas (UGA) vs. Asuncion Jadue (UK), 4-6, 4-0

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,1,3)

Up Next
The No. 2 Bulldogs will return to Athens where they face No. 6 Tennessee on Sunday, March 9 at 1 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

Match 13 – No. 1 Georgia vs No. 6 Tennessee
Date: Sunday,March 9, 2025
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Location: Athens, Ga.
Site: Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Live Video/Scoring: https://gado.gs/outdoorlive

BSB: Dawgs Blast Columbia, 14-5

Fifth-ranked Georgia hit five home runs as part of a 14-5 victory over Columbia Friday at Foley Field and extended its winning streak to 13 games.

Fast Facts

• Graduate Ryland Zaborowski (3-for-4, 2 HR, 7 RBI) provided the go-ahead blast in the second inning, a three-run shot to make it 4-3 after the Lions got a three-run home run from Anton Lazits in the first frame.

• Georgia (16-1) has won 13 straight games, its longest winning streak since 2009 when it won its first 14 games of the year.

• Along with Zaborowski’s career day, the Bulldogs got home runs from Tre Phelps, Robbie Burnett and Devin Obee (2-for-3, 4 RBI).

• Phelps and Burnett have reached base in all 17 games this year.

• Graduate Charlie Goldstein made his fourth start of the season on a pitch count and provided three innings while the win went to Zach Brown (3-1) after pitching three innings. Jordan Stephens pitched three scoreless frames for his second save.

Key Quotes

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson

On the Friday win…

“We’ve been working really hard on some approaches and swings, and you’re starting to see it. Tre Phelps got us on the board early, and his approach here the last two weeks has been really good. Then, you see what (Ryland) Zaborowski is doing and that’s fun to watch. You look at 7,8,9 in our lineups, and we’ve got a lot of production out there, I think 11 RBI today. ” 

On Ryland Zaborowski’s 7-RBI game

“If you come and watch his pregame BP (batting practice), it’s something. I was fortunate enough to be with Luis Arraez who won two batting titles when I was with the Minnesota Twins. Luis just sprays the ball around during BP, and Ryland is taking that approach. He doesn’t come to BP trying to hit it over the lights. He’s going to work it up the middle, hit some power ground balls, and I think that helps him in the game.”

Ryland Zaborowski | Gr. | DH

On the team’s power output

“Our goal as a team is to hit the ball high and far, staying in control at the box and not trying to do too much. On days like this where the wind’s blowing out just a little bit, we are not trying to hit homers like that, but we are just trying to hit the ball high and far. All game, it seemed like the other team ended up making little mistakes, and we took advantage of it. Our whole lineup did a really good job. It’s fun to celebrate with my teammates.” 

Up Next

Fifth-ranked Georgia (16-1) continues a weekend series against Columbia Saturday with first pitch at 2 p.m. Also, please note that Sunday’s first pitch against the Lions has been moved up a 12 pm start.

MBB: Dawgs Host Vandy in Regular-Season Finale

Time: 12:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)

Location: Athens, Ga.

Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

TV: ESPNU (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Mark Wise, analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 381 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PACKAGE (PDF)

The Starting Five

• Georgia looks to continue its late-season surge and make a little history when the Bulldogs host Vanderbilt in their regular-season finale on Saturday. In 118 seasons of competition, Georgia has only reached 20 regular-season wins five times (1930-31, 1945-85, 1996-97, 2010-11 and 2014-15)..

• The Bulldogs are riding a three-game winning streak with victories over No. 3 Florida followed by back-to-back road wins at Texas and South Carolina.

• Silas Demary Jr. was named the SEC and a National Player of the Week after averaging 23.5 ppg in wins over Florida and Texas, including a career-high 26 points against the Longhorns. 

• Asa Newell, who has matched Anthony Edwards’ school record with four SEC Freshman of the Week honors, has scored in double figures in 27 games and has led Georgia offensively in 18 outings.

• Georgia has played eight games versus AP top-10 teams this season, the most of any program in the nation this season. In fact, the Bulldogs have played eight of 17 games during the 2025 calendar against top-10 teams, with five of those being on the road.

The Opening Tip

Georgia hosts Vanderbilt in its 2024-25 regular-season finale on Saturday looking to continue to build momentum – and its NCAA tournament résumé – while also making a little history. The Bulldogs are riding a three-game winning streak that includes an upset of No. 3 Florida and road victories at Texas and South Carolina.

Georgia is 19-11 overall and 7-10 in SEC play. As of Friday, the Bulldogs were included in all 92 projections tracked by bracketmatrix.com, including a No. 10 seed and the second spot in Joe Lunardi’s “last four byes” for ESPN.com.

With a win on Saturday, Georgia would reach the 20-win plateau during the regular season for just the sixth time in 119 seasons of intercollegiate competition and also would post back-to-back 20-win campaigns for just the fifth time ever.

The Bulldogs’ balanced offense features seven players who have led Georgia in scoring in one or more games.  

Freshman Asa Newell, a top-10 candidate for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the top center in college basketball, paces the Bulldogs both in scoring at 15.1 ppg and on the boards at 6.6 rpg. Among SEC leaders, Newell is No. 15 in scoring, No. 12 rebounding, No. 3 in offensive rebounds (3.1  orpg) and No. 7 in double-doubles (six). In addition, he entered the weekend at No. 3 in the league and No. 51 nationally in field goal percentage (.542).

Silas Demary Jr. was named SEC Player of the Week on Monday and a National Player of the Week on Tuesday after averaging 23.5 points in wins over No. 3 Florida and at Texas. He also is scoring at double-digit pace of 13.0 ppg the Bulldogs – including 19.9 ppg over the last seven games – and sports team-high averages of 3.2 apg, 1.6 spg and 31.2 mpg.

Blue Cain is contributing double figures in league play, upping his average of 8.2 ppg against non-conference competition by 2.3 ppg to 10.5 ppg versus SEC teams.

Scouting The Commodores

Vanderbilt enters its regular-season finale at 20-10 overall and 8-9 in SEC action.  

First-year head coach Mark Byington, whose staff includes former Georgia player, graduate assistant and operations coordinator Matt Bucklin, has Vanderbilt on the verge of an NCAA Tournament bid. The Commodores are coming off a 90-77 setback to Arkansas on Tuesday which snapped a three-game winning streak over top-25 foes – No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 14 Missouri.

Vanderbilt features a quartet of double-figure scorers led by Jason Edwards’ 16.7 ppg average, followed by Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel both at 10.5 ppg and A.J. Hoddard at 10.1 ppg. 

The deep Dores rank No. 17 nationally in bench points, with reserves contributing 30.3 ppg, 37.7 percent of Vanderbilt’s offense.

Series History With Vandy

Despite a 37-30 edge for Georgia in Athens, Vanderbilt owns a 95-57 lead in the all-time series between the Bulldogs and the Commodores.

Last season on Feb. 21 in Nashville, Noah Thomasson scored all of his team-high 17 points in the first half to lead Georgia in a 76-64 win at Vanderbilt.

The Bulldogs opened up a double-digit lead midway through the first half and never allowed Vanderbilt closer than 10 points thereafter. The margin eventually bulged to 23 points.

Georgia shot 52.8 percent from the floor, the Bulldogs’ best performance in an SEC game during Mike White’s first two seasons in Athens, en route to snapping a six-game losing streak.

In the most recent matchup in Athens on Jan. 21, 2023, Jabri Abdur-Rahim posted what was then a career-high 21 points; however, the Bulldogs suffered their first home loss of the season, 85-82, at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum. The setback snapped Georgia’s 10-game home winning streak, which matched the sixth-longest overall and fifth-best single-season stretches of home success ever by the Bulldogs.

A 3-pointer 85 seconds into the game put Vanderbilt up 3-2, and the Commodores never trailed again. Georgia trimmed an eight-point halftime deficit to a single possession six times in the second stanza, including an 11-0 run that pulled the Bulldogs within 77-76 at the 2:13 mark. Georgia had possession with a chance to tie or take the lead three times in the final 111 seconds but could not complete the comeback.

Last Time Out

Georgia never trailed for the second straight road game en route to a 73-64 victory over South Carolina on Tuesday in Columbia.

Silas Demary Jr.’s team-high tallies of 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists led the Bulldogs. Blue Cain and Asa Newell added 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Demary Jr. knocked down a jumper 32 seconds into the game and Georgia led the rest of the night. The Bulldogs were up 40-29 at halftime, but the Gamecocks rallied to close the gap to 44-41 with 13:00 remaining. Carolina pulled within two points at the 9:24 mark before a Demary Jr. jumper followed by a pair of Cain 3-pointers in a span of 38 seconds pushed the margin back to 57-47.

“Huge win for us,” head coach Mike White said. “South Carolina is a very, very good team. They’re so hard to defend and they set great screens. They run good stuff. (Collin) Murray-Boyles is one of the toughest matchups in the country, and they just sit down and guard you. They’re so disciplined with their half-court defense. Silas stepped up and hit some big shots for us. Blue hit some big shots. We got some offensive rebounds, extra possessions by Dylan (James), by Asa. Somto [Cyril] played well. Huge week for us, huge win.”

There’s “Brutal,” And then There’s This

Georgia has played an almost unfathomable schedule, particularly in January and February.

Georgia has played eight games versus top-10 foes. The most of any team in the nation as outlined below.

The Bulldogs have played 14 games against top-25 competition. The second most of any team in the nation as outlined below.

The Bulldogs have played five road contests against top-10 teams. The most of any team in the nation.

In fact, of the Bulldogs’ outings since the New Year began, nearly half of them – eight of 17 – have been versus top-10 competition. 

With the victory over No. 3/3 Florida, Georgia now has two top-10 wins – the same as combined total of current top-10 teams Duke (1), St. John’s (0), Michigan State (0) and Texas Tech (1).

Prior to this season, Georgia had never played four ranked opponents in a row. The Bulldogs have played five straight top-25 foes twice during SEC play this season.

Ranked Foes

Top-10 AP Opponents

Rk.       Team               Games

1.         Georgia           8

            Kentucky          8

3.         Miss. St.           7

4.         Alabama          6

            Arkansas          6

            Auburn             6

            Missouri           6

            Vanderbilt        6

            West Virginia   6

Top-25 AP Opponents

Rk.       Team               Games

1.         Alabama          15

2.         Georgia           14

3.         Auburn             13

            Oklahoma        13

5.         Miss. St.           12

            S. Carolina       12

            Tennessee       12

SB: Dawgs Fall To Vols in Series Opener

The 13^th-ranked Georgia softball team fell to the seventh-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols, 6-1, in Friday’s SEC opener at Jack Turner Stadium in front of a season-high crowd of 2,071 fans.

SOFTBALL | vs. #7 TENNESSEE | L, 6-1
   Winning pitcher: Karlyn Pickens (6-2)
   Losing Pitcher: Lilli Backes (8-1)

Season Record: 18-3, 0-1 SEC

FAST FACTS

• Senior Lilli Backes suffered her first loss in the circle, allowing six runs on nine hits in her complete-game outing. She struck out four and walked five Lady Vol hitters.
• Junior Jaydyn Goodwin broke up Tennessee’s no-hit bid in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff infield single. She scored Georgia’s lone run on an RBI single up the middle off the bat of Lyndi Rae Davis to break up the shutout.

UP NEXT
Georgia and Tennessee meet up in the second game of the SEC-opening series on Sautrday at 2 p.m. at Jack Turner Stadium. Saturday’s game features Girl Power Day (registration full) and Saturday at The Jack with a face painter, balloon artist, kid’s zone, and inflatables pregame. Kids fifth grade and younger can run the bases after the game.

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