ATHENS, Ga. – Controlling throughout, the eighth-ranked Georgia women’s tennis team eased past No. 15 Auburn, 4-1, Saturday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Going up 2-0 across the board in doubles set the tone for Georgia’s dominate performance. The Bulldogs grabbed the doubles point and five first set singles wins en route to improving to 12-4 overall and 7-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn fell to 16-9 overall and 4-5 in SEC.
“Auburn has a great team but our players just came out strong and winning the doubles point was great,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “I think we came out with a lot of energy, we were battling on these top courts but the bottom courts got it done for us. We were really competing today.”
Georgia has earned the doubles point in 14 of its 16 dual matches this season including eight of nine conference matches. Singles wins by Mariana Gould and Elena Christofi paved the way for freshman Morgan Coppoc to notch her first career match-clinching win.
In doubles, Georgia’s ninth-ranked duo of Katarina Jokic and Gould got off the court first, defeating Georgie Axon and Caroline Turner, 6-1, on court two.
Clinching the point was the 11th-ranked tandem of Christofi and Coppoc on court one, beating out the other Bulldogs’ pair who was on match point. Christofi and Coppoc dispatched No. 67 Alizee Michaud and Taylor Russo, 6-2, marking their ninth win against a ranked opponent this season.
Jokic/Gould improved to 25-5 overall, while Christofi/Coppoc moved to 16-6 with their unblemished SEC record intact at 4-0.
Two of the five first set singles wins came via a tiebreaker on court one with Jokic and court three with Marta Gonzalez. Although both contests went unfinished, it heavily kept Georgia running downhill in the match.
For the second time in the last four matches, Gould was first off the court with a singles victory. On court five, Gould blanked Axon in the opening set, then won 6-2 in the second to give Georgia a 2-0 lead. The Georgia senior is 10-1 in dual play and has won four straight decisions.
Auburn cut its deficit to 2-1 with a win on court two, but the Bulldogs quickly stretched its lead back out to 3-1 due to a Christofi win on court four.
After handling the first set 6-2, Coppoc found herself in a 0-3 hole in the second before rallying off four games in a row to recapture control. The Tulsa native went 2-1 in the next three games to seal the win for the Bulldogs.
“We have to travel before we come back home to the most incredible tennis complex in the world,” Wallace added. “We love playing here. Our fans are always a big part of how we play and today they were incredible. They gave us a huge boost and really lifted our energy, so thank you so much to them.”
The Bulldogs conclude their regular season road schedule next week at both SEC Mississippi schools. First, Georgia travels to Oxford play Ole Miss Thursday at 5 p.m., and then battle Mississippi State in Starkville Saturday at 2 p.m.
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Tennis Match Results
Auburn vs Georgia
Mar 31, 2018 at Athens, Ga.
(Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
#8 Georgia 4, #15 Auburn 1
Singles competition
- #6 Katarina Jokic (UGA) vs. Alizee Michaud (AUBURN) 7-6 (7-4), 3-2, unfinished
- #79 Jaeda Daniel (AUBURN) def. #45 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 6-0, 6-4
- #81 Marta Gonzalez (UGA) vs. Andie Dikosavljevic (AUBURN) 7-6 (7-3), 3-2, unfinished
- Elena Christofi (UGA) def. Taylor Russo (AUBURN) 6-1, 6-3
- Mariana Gould (UGA) def. Georgie Axon (AUBURN) 6-0, 6-2
- #110 Morgan Coppoc (UGA) def. Alannah Griffin (AUBURN) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles competition
- #11 Elena Christofi/Morgan Coppoc (UGA) def. #67 Alizee Michaud/Taylor Russo (AUBURN) 6-2
- #9 Katarina Jokic/Mariana Gould (UGA) def. Georgie Axon/Caroline Turner (AUBURN) 6-1
- Annette Goulak/Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) vs. Jaeda Daniel/Andie Dikosavljevic (AUBURN) 5-2, unfinished
Match Notes:
Auburn 16-9, 4-5; National ranking #15
Georgia 12-4, 7-2; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,2,4,6)
Official: Karen Badger-Mabry T-2:12 A-567