The 13th-ranked Georgia women’s tennis team will take on the Mercer Bears at 2 p.m. ET today at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex to start the outdoor portion of their season.
 
 
Georgia wrapped up its indoor season at the National Team Indoor Championships with its 18th trip to the semifinals in program history. The fifth-seeded Bulldogs defeated Duke and the No. 3-seed Pepperdine, before falling to the top-ranked and eventual national indoor champion Florida Gators in the semifinal match.
 
 
“Certainly we put ourselves into the position where we are one of the top teams in the country,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “I think we knew that going in but now you go out there and win some matches and kind of prove it. At the same time, I think we learned some things that we clearly have to work on as the season progresses. We also learned that there are some other really great teams out there too. So I think it is all motivating and is stuff that will keep us out here on the practice courts, really determined to keep improving. Now we are just really looking forward to the outdoor season.”
 
 
Since the Bulldogs return from the national indoors two weekends ago, Georgia has transitioned practice from inside the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility to the outdoor courts of the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
 
 
Freshman Elena Christofi jumped three spots in the latest ITA singles rankings to the No. 15 position. The native from Athens, Greece holds a team-best 17-3 singles record and a perfect 5-0 in dual season. Returning junior All-American Ellen Perez made her 2017 debut in the rankings coming in at No. 62 with a 3-1 record. The Aussie finished last year ranked fifth nationally but missed the fall season with an elbow injury. Georgia fell from the No. 3 spot to No. 13 in the team rankings.
 
 
The visiting Mercer Bears have notched wins over Alabama State, Savannah State and South Carolina State this season while both their losses came from the then No. 11 Auburn Tigers. Leading the Bears on the No. 1 singles court is senior Katia Stavroulaki with a 2-1 dual record. The 2016 SoCon All-Conference first team recipient supplied Mercer with a 14-5 record last year playing the top singles spot. In doubles, Stavroulaki pairs with junior Grace Korta for a 3-2 dual record in the number one slot.
 
 
Georgia owns a 6-0 all-time record against Mercer but the two schools have not met each other since 1981. The first meeting occurred in 1976.
 
 
Live scoring will be available through a link on the day of the match. CLICK HERE for the Georgia versus Mercer match-notes.