[break] The No. 2 Georgia women’s tennis team began SEC play in impressive fashion on Friday afternoon, downing No. 45 LSU 6-1 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex to improve to 8-3 (1-0) on the season.

 

The weather presented Georgia with its first opportunity to play outdoors this spring, and the Bulldogs took advantage of the clear skies by storming out to an early lead in doubles. Senior Lauren Herring and freshman Ellen Perez combined to earn the Bulldogs their first doubles win with an 8-5 victory on court 1. Junior Silvia Garcia and freshman Kennedy Shaffer then clinched the point with an 8-3 win on court 2.
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[break] After securing the doubles point, the Bulldogs tripled their advantage via early singles wins from Garc

ia (6-3, 6-1) and Perez (6-2, 6-1) on courts 3 and 2. Freshman Mariana Gould, making just her third appearance in singles this season, then clinched the match for Georgia at 4-0 with a 6-4, 6-0 singles victory over Abigail Owens on court 4.

 

The remaining singles matches were played out and No. 6 ranked Herring gave the Bulldogs a 5-0 advantage with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 38 Joana Vale Costa on court 1. Sophomore Caroline Brinson then lost a third-set tiebreaker to the Tigers’ Skylar Holloway on court 6 before freshman Hannah King closed out the proceedings with a 7-5, 7-6 (3) win on court 5.
[break] [break] “We haven’t really been outside that much so for our first day outside I really thought our players did a great job,” said head coach Jeff Wallace. “I was super impressed. Doubles looked good and I thought all of the singles were really well-played. I thought LSU played a good match today as well. We are excited for this win and are looking forward to Sunday.”

 

The Bulldogs improved to 39-4 in the all-time series against the Tigers and extended their winning streak to 33 matches. Up next for Georgia is Texas A&M at home on Sunday at 1 p.m. Live results and a live blog will be available on Georgiadogs.com.
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Georgia vs. LSU

Singles Results

1. #6 Lauren Herring (UGA) def. #38 Joana Vale Costa (LSU) 6-4, 6-1
2. #74 Ellen Perez (UGA) def. Noel Scott (LSU) 6-2, 6-1
3. #97 Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. #112 Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) 6-3, 6-1
4. #107 Mariana Gould (UGA) def. Abigail Owens (LSU) 6-4, 6-0
5. #66 Hannah King (UGA) def. Ella Taylor (LSU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Skylar Holloway (LSU) def. #111 Caroline Brinson (UGA) 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (12-10)

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Doubles Results

1. #25 Lauren Herring/Ellen Perez (UGA) def. Joana Vale Costa/Noel Scott (LSU) 8-5
2. #16 Silvia Garcia/Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. Abigail Owens/Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) 8-3
3. #55 Caroline Brinson/Hannah King (UGA) vs. Ella Taylor/Skylar Holloway (LSU) 6-2, unfinished

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Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,2,4,1,6,5)