UGA advances to the ITA National Team Indoors women’s tennis semifinals with a 4-1 win over No.3 Pepperdine on Saturday.
 
The Bulldogs (5-0) stormed back to win four singles matches after the Waves claimed a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point. Up next, Georgia faces top-ranked Florida (5-0) Sunday on the Yale campus at 3:30 p.m. They will meet again during the SEC season on March 17 in Gainesville.
 
 
Trailing 1-0 for the second day in a row, the Bulldogs got another stellar effort from juniors Mariana Gould and Ellen Perez along with freshman Elena Christofi to build a 3-1 advantage. Gould evened the match with a 6-2,6-0 win over Christine Maddox at No. 6. Perez quickly followed with a 6-3,6-2 decision over 22nd-ranked Ashley Lahey in the No. 1 match. Christofi recorded another impressive win over a ranked opponent, defeating 14th-ranked Mayar Sherif 6-2,6-0 at No. 2. Christofi is now 17-3 in her singles career.
 
 
“The whole team came out on a mission in singles,” said Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace. “We know with the doubles format, you’re going to win some and lose some, and we did a great job in the first set in singles. Ellen, Mariana and Elena put up three quick points and the other three were battling in their matches.”
 
 
Georgia freshman Marta Gonazalez provided the clinching victory, outlasting Pepperdine senior Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai 6-3,1-6,6-4.
 
 
“Marta just hung in there after playing a solid first set and then her opponent got the hot hand in the second set, and it was a battle in the third. It was a great win for Marta and our team.”
 
 
Pepperdine picked up wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to earn the first team point. Georgia’s No. 2 team team of Caroline Brinson and Kennedy Shaffer beat Lahey and Runglerdkriangkrai 6-2.
 
 
CLICK HERE for the recap and final stats from the Georgia women’s tennis team’s win over Pepperdine.
 
 
For updated draws, results, live scoring and video highlights, head to the Division I Women’s National Indoors event page at www.itatennis.com.
 
 
FloTennis will be on site providing live streaming coverage of all the competition. FloTennis is a subscription-based service with monthly and annual rate options. To sign up and view the live stream, follow this link: http://bit.ly/2kltqbD.