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MTennis: Ethan Quinn has become the seventh Bulldog in program history to make the NCAA Singles Championship Finals

This marks the first time in the program’s storied history that a freshman will compete for an individual national championship. Quinn is now the seventh Bulldog to reach the singles finals and the first since John Isner did so in 2007 as the field’s top seed. 

Quinn will look to win Georgia’s fifth singles title against Michigan’s No. 8 Ondrej Styler on Saturday, May 27 at 10 a.m. ET. Styler, a senior from Prague, Czech Republic, is 33-4 on the year, going 11-1 on court one and 22-1 during the spring season. 

“A great win by Ethan,” said head coach Manuel Diaz. “The first set, Chris Rodesch just played really well. It seemed like the better Ethan was playing, Chris was matching him. We challenged him to change his game plan a little bit and to play a little bit higher and slower. Ethan just has a tremendous competitive nature and was up to the challenge. He did a great job of hitting his stride in the second set. As play went along, he became a little bit more confident, and his level of play went up. Just a terrific win against a difficult situation.”

The Fresno, Calif. native has now won 16 consecutive singles matches and is 21-1 dating back to Feb. 19. His win against Rodesch, who is ranked No. 9 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles poll, moves Quinn to 33-10 on the year and 25-7 against ranked opponents. 

The first lead of the match went to Rodesch, who took a 4-1 lead in the first set after breaking Quinn’s serve and holding. The Virginia junior would take the opening set, 6-2, after winning set point on Quinn’s serve. Quinn would begin the second set similarly, taking a 5-1 lead by holding serve and after breaking Rodesch in the first game and again to go up 4-1. The Bulldog would take the second also by a 6-2 score.

The third set would stay on serve through 3-3. Quinn would take a 15-40 lead while returning, but Rodesch battled back to force a deciding point. The final break of the match came after Rodesch’s return from Quinn’s backhand slice went long, allowing the redshirt freshman to take a 5-3 lead in the set after holding. Quinn would go on to win the set and the match by a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 score. 

The 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year and a member of the All-SEC First Team, Quinn is now part of an accomplished group of Bulldogs to make the finals, which includes Patricio Arnold, George Bezecny, Matias Boeker, John Isner, Wade McGuire and Mikael Pernfors.

Coach Diaz’ Comments

“A great win by Ethan. The first set, Chris Rodesch just played really well. It seemed like the better Ethan was playing, Chris was matching him. We challenged him to change his game plan a little bit and to play a little bit higher and slower. Ethan just has a tremendous competitive nature and was up to the challenge. He did a great job of hitting his stride in the second set. As play went along, he became a little bit more confident, and his level of play went up. Just a terrific win against a difficult situation.”

“We’ve had players in the finals before, but every year is different,” said Coach Diaz. “This year, Ethan has just come into his own and improved as the year has gone on. Tomorrow, he faces a very good and very seasoned opponent. We’ll come up with a game plan and he’ll be ready to go. He’s been playing his best tennis towards the end of this season. He’s done a great job of preparing, not just physically but mentally, he improved in many areas as the year and spring has gone along.”

Results

Singles Results

Round of 64 – 05/22/23

No. 2 Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. Luc Fomba (TCU) 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-5

Dan Martin (MIA) def. Philip Henning (UGA) 7-6(4), 6-4

Round of 32 – 05/23/23

No. 2 Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. Ryan Seggerman (UNC) 6-4, 6-4

Round of 16 – 05/24/23

No. 2 Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. No. 9-16 Nishesh Basavareddy (STAN) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

Quarterfinals – 05/25/23

No. 2 Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. Andrew Fenty (MICH) 6-2, 6-4

Semifinals – 05/26/23

No. 2 Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. No. 9-16 Chris Rodesch (UVA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4

Doubles Results

Round of 32 – 05/24/23

Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DUKE) def. No. 4 Trent Bryde/Ethan Quinn (UGA) 6-4, 7-6(5)

T&F: Georgia men’s track and field team had a half dozen more qualifiers during day three of the NCAA East Prelims Friday

Similar to the NCAA Championships, this meet is set up where one gender competes one day and then the other gender competes the next, and that pattern is followed all four days.  The men competed on the third day and six more competitors in six events earned an invitation to Austin, Texas.

• Keshaun Black, Matthew Boling, Christopher Morales Williams and Elija Godwin were third in their heat and seventh overall to advance to the final rounds in the 4×100-meter relay.
• Godwin returned in the 400m and punched his ticket in a second event in his featured event.
• Similar to Godwin, Will Sumner had the No. 2 time during the 800m quarterfinals to advance to the final rounds in his first season.
• Caleb Cavanaugh ran out of the third heat in the 400m hurdles and was the 10^th out of 12 qualifiers overall.
• Matthew Boling was the runner-up in his heat and eighth overall in the 200m to automatically move on to Austin.
• Godwin, Boling, Morales Williams and Sumner concluded the night by running the fastest 4x400m relay of the quarterfinal.

Thursday brought another five automatic qualifiers for Georgia who punched their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships: Ana da Silva (hammer throw, shot put), Julia Harisay, Erin McMeniman (javelin), Titiana Marsh (long jump).

On Wednesday, the Bulldogs qualified their first two competitors for the final rounds as Marc Minichello (javelin) and Alencar Pereira (hammer throw) finished in the qualifying top 12.

The women have qualified the following competitors for Saturday’s quarterfinals with a chance to make the Nationals field: Bella Witt (100m hurdles), Kaila Jackson, Autumn Wilson, Brandee Presley (100m, 200m), Aaliyah Butler (400m), Dominique Mustin (400m hurdles).

There are 48 competitors from the East Region in every individual event and 24 in the relays.  The NCAA West Prelims is running simultaneously in Sacramento with the same format.  The top 12 in each event from both regions will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, on June 7-10.

One of the Bulldogs who traveled as a relay alternate is the national leader in the decathlon and has earned the right to skip the Prelims by automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships.  College record holder Kyle Garland most recently won the Southeastern Conference title with a meet record score of 8,589, which ranks second on the all-time collegiate list.

The Lowdown: Godwin ran the second fastest 400m time during the quarterfinals after finishing his lap in 46.05.

Sumner won the third heat in the 800m quarters thanks to a 1:49.22 and automatically qualified for Nationals.

The Bulldog foursome combined for a 39.62 in the 4x100m relay to be one of the automatic qualifiers in the quarterfinal round. 

Cavanaugh will now make a return trip to the NCAA Championships in the 400m hurdles after running a 51.26 to take 10^th overall.

Boling, who was high school teammates with Cavanaugh, made the best of the 5.2 meters/second wind behind him to clock a 20.20 to finish in the top 12.

Godwin, Boling, Morales Williams and Sumner wrapped up day three by winning the opening heat with the fastest time of the night (3:04.71).

In addition, Black ran a personal record 10.12 to finish 17^th in the quarterfinal.

When Do The Bulldogs Start On Saturday? 

Harisay, who has already punched her ticket in the javelin alongside teammate McMeniman, will attempt to make it a double in the discus on Saturday at 1 p.m.  The women’s 4x100m relay will be the first Lady Bulldogs on the track at 5 p.m.

Live Results: For results between Wednesday and Saturday, please click on: http://gado.gs/aly

Live Stream: The NCAA East Prelims will be live-streamed by ESPN all four days.

Softball: UGA fell to No. 3 Florida State in the Tallahassee Super Regional, season ends with a 42-15 record

The 14^th-seeded Georgia softball team fell to No. 3 Florida State in game two of the Tallahassee Super Regional Friday evening at JoAnne Graf Field, 4-2.

The Bulldogs conclude the 2023 season 42-15 in the second season under head coach Tony Baldwin. 

Georgia’s offense scattered four hits led by two from freshman Jaydyn Goodwin including a double. Georgia’s run production came from an RBI each from Dallis Goodnight and Lyndi Rae Davis at the top of the order.

Shelby Walters (18-6) suffered the loss in the season finale, working six innings, allowing four runs on five hits. She struck out two and walked none. Madison Kerpics pitched the seventh inning out of the pen.

Florida State (55-9) got on the board in the top of the third. A grounder to short was thrown to the plate. The initial call of out at home was overturned after review to put FSU on the board, 1-0. The next batter drove in two more with a double in the left center gap to widen the lead to 3-0.

Goodwin led off the bottom of the inning with a double to right. She took third on a single off the bat of Jaiden Fields and scored on an RBI groundout to first from Goodnight to put Georgia on the board 3-1 after three innings.

FSU added to its lead with a two-out RBI single down the right field line in the top of the sixth, 4-1.

A throwing error by the third baseman allowed Goodnight to reach in the bottom of the inning. Davis poked a single through the right side to drive in Goodnight and cut the lead to 4-2.

Georgia attempted to mount a seventh-inning comeback, putting the tying runs in scoring position with two out. A flyout to left ended the game, 4-2.

Highlights

ICYMI: UGA moves on from Scott Stricklin

Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin just completed his 10th year as head baseball coach and had three years remaining on his current contract.

“I want to thank Scott for his service to our athletic department over the last 10 years,” said Brooks. “After much thought and deliberation, we feel it is in the best interest of our baseball program to move in a different direction. We will begin immediately the process of a national search to identify the next leader of our baseball team.  We extend best wishes to Scott and his family, and a sincere thank you for their time at the University of Georgia.”

The 2023 team, whose season ended last Tuesday in the first round of the SEC baseball tournament, posted a 29-27 record and 11-19 in SEC competition.  Stricklin’s UGA teams posted an overall record of 299-236-1 and 121-146-1 in SEC games.  His teams earned three NCAA tournament invitations:  2018 (39-21, 18-12 SEC, Regional finalist); 2019 (46-17, 21-9 SEC, Regional finalist); and 2022 (36-23, 15-15 SEC). 

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