Two weeks ago, the Georgia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Texas A&M in Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens. The Bulldog men put the Aggies under with a score of 157 to 143 while the Lady Bulldogs washed the competition clean by a score of 169 to 131. Those victories moved both the UGA men and women to 4-1 on the season.
Now, another SEC foe comes to Athens and Gabrielsen Natatorium to test Georgia’s waters. The Bulldogs will host Tennessee for 11:00 a.m. ET Saturday meet which will be broadcast on the SEC Network +. Fans can live stream via WATCH ESPN, and you can also follow along via the LIVE STATS feed.
For the Bulldog men (4-1), Saturday’s meet is the 37th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and Volunteers, with Tennessee holding a 23-13 advantage. For the Lady Bulldogs (4-1), it is the 40th meeting, with Georgia leading the series 33-5-1. In last season’s meeting on January 26 in Knoxville, the Volunteers swept both the Georgia men and women by margins of 170-130 (M) and 156-144 (W) respectively.
And it doesn’t get any easier this go around for UGA.
The Tennessee women (6-0) enter Saturday’s meet ranked second in the nation by CSCAA, having topped the Lady Bulldogs earlier this season in the Tennessee Invitational. Senior Erika Brown has established herself as one of the nation’s top performers with top-five times in five different events, including national bests in the 100 and 200 freestyle. Brown is joined in the top 10 by teammates Meghan Small (200 backstroke / 200 IM / 400 IM), Alexis Yager (200 breaststroke) and Tess Cieplucha, who holds the nation’s top 400 IM time.
On the men’s side, the 10th-ranked Volunteers (6-0) are powered by senior Matthew Garcia, who ranks in the top 20 in the 100 back, 200 back and 200 IM, and sophomore Michael Houlie, who sits 10th in the 100 breaststroke. At November’s Tennessee Invite, the Volunteers placed second behind the victorious Bulldogs.
Next weekend, the Bulldogs will host their final dual meet of the season against Emory on Saturday, February 1st. The meet is set for 11:00 a.m. ET and will be broadcast on SEC Network +. Prior to the meet, the 17 members of Georgia’s 2020 senior class will be recognized.