Jump To Top of Page
WTEN: Dawgs Earn All-America Honors
Two Georgia singles players and two Bulldogs doubles teams earned ITA All-America honors, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Tuesday. Senior Anastasiia Lopata earned singles All-America honors for the third consecutive season, while Aysegul Mert collected her first career singles All-America honor. The Georgia doubles teams of Patricija Paukstyte and Lopata, along with Mert and Deniz Dilek, also earned doubles All-America honors.
Lopata finished her senior campaign with a 15-7 overall record this season. She tallied seven ranked victories, highlighted by a win over No. 3 Carmen Herea of Texas. Lopata also secured three match-clinching victories during SEC play against Auburn, Texas A&M and Missouri. She finished the season ranked No. 15 in singles to earn ITA All-America honors.
Mert posted a 24-10 overall singles record during her junior campaign. Her standout season was highlighted by winning the ITA Conference Masters tournament in the fall. She also clinched a dramatic three-set victory to send the Bulldogs to back-to-back ITA National Indoor Championship finals and secured Georgia’s win over Texas to advance the Bulldogs to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. Mert finished the season ranked No. 6 in singles to earn ITA All-America honors.
Georgia’s top doubles pair of Paukstyte and Lopata earned ITA All-America honors after reaching a season-high ranking of No. 6. The duo posted a 16-7 record in dual matches and tallied eight ranked victories during the season.
Dilek and Mert, Georgia’s Turkish duo, also earned ITA All-America honors after maintaining a top-five doubles ranking during the final five weeks of the season. The pair posted a 16-6 record in dual matches, including seven victories over ranked opponents. Mert secured her second career doubles All-America honor after previously earning the distinction alongside Dasha Vidmanova by winning the 2024 NCAA Doubles Championship.
The criteria for ITA All-America singles honors include winning the ITA All-American Championship, advancing to the round of 16 at the NCAA Individual Championships, or finishing in the top 20 of the final ITA Singles Rankings. All-America recognition is awarded to doubles teams who win the ITA All-American Championship, reach the NCAA Championship quarterfinals, or finish in the top 10 in the final ITA National Doubles Rankings.
T&F: UGA Set for NCAA East First Rounds
Georgia track & field continues the postseason competition on Wednesday-Saturday as the Bulldogs are set to compete at the NCAA East First Rounds at the UK Outdoor Track & Field Complex on the campus of the University of Kentucky this week.
The top-ranked women and the third-ranked men will be represented by a combined 46 athletes across 21 events over the four-day meet. Each individual event will feature 48 competitors from the East Region, while 24 programs will compete in each relay.
The NCAA East First Rounds will begin with the men’s first round on Wednesday, followed by the women’s opening round on Thursday. The men will then compete in the quarterfinal round on Friday, followed by the women on Saturday. All field events will feature one round in Lexington to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, while the running events will hold first-round and quarterfinal races in order to set the field for Eugene.
Last season, the Bulldogs tallied 25 individual qualifiers and four relay qualifying times. For the 2026 season, just nine of those 25 are set to compete at the first rounds this year for Georgia. Returners that punched their ticket last season include Kaila Jackson (100m), Jayden Keys (Long Jump), Kelsie Murrell-Ross (Shot Put), Dejanea Oakley (400m), Riyon Rankin (High Jump), Reign Redmond (100m), Michelle Smith (400m Hurdles), Skylynn Townsend (Triple Jump) and Nikolai van Huyssteen (Pole Vault).
The Bulldog women own 16 top-12 marks in the East Region, while the men own 13. On the women’s side, Georgia owns four regional leading marks: Adaejah Hodge (100m and 200m), Dejanea Oakley (400m) and 4x400m relay. A quartet of Georgia men also owns top East region marks: Mohamed Adoini (400m Hurdles), Kimani Jack (High Jump) and Jordan Davis (Javelin).
A pair of Bulldogs have already claimed their tickets in the multi-events. Sophomore Maximus Tucker already punched his ticket to Eugene in the Decathlon and senior Ella Rush in the Heptathlon. Rush is also set to compete this weekend in the women’s long jump.
ESPN+ Info:
Wednesday (6 p.m.) – ESPN+
LINK: https://gado.gs/etp
Thursday (6 p.m.) – ESPN+
LINK: https://gado.gs/etq
Friday (5 p.m.) – ESPN+
LINK: https://gado.gs/etr
Saturday (5 p.m.) – ESPN+
LINK: https://gado.gs/ets
On Wednesday, the javelin duo of sophomore Nick Reynolds and senior Jordan Davis will open up competition at 9 AM in the field events. Then action on the track opens up at 6 PM with both sophomore Jayden Keys and freshman Le’Ezra Brown in the first round of the 110m hurdles.
On Thursday, competition opens in the women’s long jump at 6 PM with senior Ella Rush, freshmen Chelsi Williams and Ava Kitchings. Then, action on the track starts at 6 PM, with five Bulldogs slated to compete in the first round of the women’s 100m hurdles. Freshmen Maddi Cooper, Taylor Cox, Rylee Hampton, Chelsi Williams and Zoe Ziglor will toe the line.
Jump To Today’s Discussion Thread