MTENNIS: Bulldogs Finish Strong At Southern Intercollegiate
The Georgia men’s tennis team wrapped up a busy and productive 55th Southern Intercollegiate Championships on Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The day’s action included four singles wins over ranked Southern California opponents, highlighted by a 6-2, 6-3 victory by Ethan Quinn over Stefan Dostanic, the ITA preseason No. 1-ranked player in the country.
Quinn, a redshirt freshman, won all three of his singles matches over the three-day competition, including a three-set win over No. 21 Jeffrey Von Der Schulenberg of Virginia on Saturday, and was named the singles champion in his first event playing for the Bulldogs.
Georgia’s doubles team of Blake Croyder and Britton Johnston went 3-0 this weekend, including Sunday’s 8-2 win over the No. 36-ranked team of Peter Makk and Lodewijk Westrate of USC, and were named the doubles champions.
A fifth-year senior, Croyder also picked up a strong singles win Sunday, beating USC’s No. 76-ranked Lodewijk Westrate, 6-4, 7-5. Between singles and doubles, Croyder, ranked No. 117, won five of his six matches over the weekend.
“I just had a lot of fun. I mean, this is my last go-round, so I’m just leaving everything I have out there. And I’m just trying to have fun at the same time, always with a smile on my face,” Croyder said.
Croyder and Johnston didn’t have too much experience playing together before this weekend.
“I think it was (the Southern Intercollegiate) in 2018, and we lost first round,” Croyder said. “We were like, no, we’re never playing again. And now we’re playing together as fifth-year seniors and it’s pretty sweet.”
Another fifth-year senior, No. 73 Trent Bryde, also earned a tough singles win, besting USC’s No. 44-ranked Bradley Frye in three sets, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. And fifth-year transfer Teodor Giusca, ranked No. 93, closed out the Southern Intercollegiate for the Bulldogs with a three-set, come-from-behind win over Southern Cal’s 41st-ranked Peter Makk. After dropping the first set, Giusca was down a break late in the second before rallying to win 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2.
For Quinn, it was his third time playing Dostanic — and his third win over the senior and 2022 All-American and Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year. After needing three sets to knock off Dostanic the first two times, Quinn said “to beat him in two was pretty nice.”
And Quinn’s main takeaway from the weekend?
“Just how much fun college tennis is,” he said. “Just getting to feed off Blake next to me (on court 2) these last two matches, it’s so much fun. And getting to play in front of the crowd finally after seeing it (last spring) was nice.
“College tennis is definitely something you have to get used to and I feel like I acclimated pretty well.”
Up next for the Bulldogs are the ITA All-America Championships and the ITA Regional in October.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs on georgiadogs.com or by following the team on Twitter (@UGATennis) and Instagram (@ugatennis).
Results
55th Southern Intercollegiate Championships
Georgia vs. USC
(This is a singles and doubles tournament with no team score)
Doubles
1. #2 Stefan Dostanic/Bradley Frye (USC) def. Ethan Quinn/Trent Bryde (UGA) 8-6
2. Blake Croyder/Britton Johnston (UGA) def. #36 Peter Makk /Lodewijk Westrate (USC), 8-2
3. Samuel Rubell/Wojtek Marek (USC) def. Teodor Giusca/Filipe Costa (UGA), 8-4
4. Nevin Arimilli (Texas)/ Gabriele Datei (Georgia State) def. Miguel Perez Pena/Thomas Paulsell (UGA), 8-4
Singles
1. Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. #1 Stefan Dostanic (USC), 6-2, 6-32. #117 Blake Croyder (UGA) def. #76 Lodewijk Westrate (USC), 6-4, 7-5
3. #73 Trent Bryde (UGA) def. #44 Bradley Frye (USC), 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
4. #93 Teodor Giusca (UGA) def. #41Peter Makk (USC), 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2
5. #113 Wojtek Marek (USC) def. Miguel Perez Pena (UGA), 7-5, 6-4
6. Gabriele Datei (Georgia State) def. Thomas Paulsell (UGA), 6-4, 6-3
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