University of Georgia Athletics
Men's Tennis Seeks Eighth SEC Tournament Crown
April 21, 2010 | Men's Tennis
“We’re looking forward to playing the winner of Auburn and Arkansas, which will be a big challenge either way,” said head coach Manuel Diaz. “We’re hoping to get a good practice in today and get ready for whoever wins that first match. At this point we know they’re both capable and we have to play our best tennis to succeed and that’s what we intend to do.”
“It’s great to see our conference get back to what has been traditional – the SEC as the deepest, strongest conference in the nation,” Diaz said. “I think we’re all benefiting from each other’s level of competition. This will be a great tournament.”
Fans can purchase championship passes and single-day tickets through the UK Ticket Office by calling 1-800-928-CATS. Ticket prices are $10 for an Adult Championship Pass (all four days), $6 for a Child/Senior/Student Championship Pass (all four days). $4 for an Adult Single Day Pass, or $2 for a Child/Senior/Student Single Day Pass.
A tournament webpage with live stats will be available via www.ukathletics.com for the duration of the event.
The Bulldogs (17-6, 9-2) will enjoy a first-round bye before taking on the winner of the Arkansas-Auburn match in the second round on Friday at 9 a.m. ET. The Dogs defeated both of those possible opponents, 6-0 and 6-1, respectively.
The Tennessee Volunteers -- who captured the regular-season crown -- enter as the No. 1 seed followed by Florida, Georgia, and Kentucky. Ole Miss enters as the five ahead of Auburn, Vanderbilt, Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and South Carolina. Georgia had a chance to claim a share of the SEC regular-season title last weekend, but dropped the finale on the road in Knoxville by a 6-1 score.
Georgia At The SEC Championships
The men’s tennis team will head to Lexington in search of its eighth NCAA Tournament title. The Bulldogs captured the team championship in 1991, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2006, 2006, and 2007. All seven came under Manuel Diaz’s guidance.
A year ago, the Bulldogs entered as the No. 4 seed and earned a quaterfinal win over Auburn in their first match before falling 4-1 to Tennessee in the semifinals.
Ole Miss is the defending SEC Tournament champion.
Looking At The Bulldogs
Winder, Ga., native Drake Bernstein leads the Bulldogs with his record of 28-12, including a 15-6 clip in dual match play and an 11-4 mark at No. 4 singles. Bernstein saw his six-match winning streak snapped vs. Florida on April 11. No. 26 Javier Garrapiz stands at 27-16 on the season, most recently capturing Georgia’s only singles win over Tennessee on Saturday in Knoxville. Senior Christian Vitulli is 24-10 and saw his 12-match winning streak come to a close vs. South Carolina as he had to retire after just two games with a knee injury on April 9.
Senior Nate Schnugg, ranked 77th this week, stands at 21-15 including 7-2 at No. 2, while senior Jamie Hunt is 20-8 and a stellar 14-4 at No. 3 singles for Georgia. Hunt rounds out Georgia’s group of five players with 20 or more wins.
In doubles, the Schnugg-Hunt tandem is 17-9 overall and 8-7 at No. 1 in dual matches, cracking the rankings at No. 53 this week. Bernstein and Garrapiz are 14-10 and 9-6 at No. 2 doubles while Bo Seal and Vitulli are 11-6 at No. 3. Schnugg and Garrapiz - who played together for this first time this season vs. USC and UF - are 2-1 and crack the rankings at No. 70 after a huge upset over No. 2 ranked John-Patrick Smith and Davey Sandgren of Tennessee last time out. Hunt and Vitulli are a new pair as well, going 2-1 at No. 2 in Georgia’s last three outings.
Georgia has swept the doubles point four times this season and is a staggering 13-1 when winning doubles.
Seal Out For SEC Championships
The Bulldogs will again be without the services of freshman Bo Seal, who continues to serve an indefinite suspension for a violation of team rules. Seal was 11-8 before the suspension, which began with the South Carolina match on April 9. Seal also sat out vs. Florida and Tennessee.
Last Time Out
The 10th-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team dropped its regular season finale at No. 2 Tennessee, 6-1, on April at the UT Varsity Courts in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Bulldogs end the regular season with a 17-6 record and a 9-2 mark in SEC play.
The Vols took a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. At No. 3, Edward Jones and Matteo Fago topped Drake Bernstein and Will Oliver, 8-3, but Georgia came back with a win at No. 1 where No. 70 Javier Garrapiz and Nate Schnugg beat the nation’s No. 2-ranked tandem of John-Patrick Smith and Davey Sandgren, 9-8.
However, Tennessee’s seventh-ranked duo of Boris Conkic and Rhyne Williams clinched the doubles point at No. 2 with an 8-4 win over Jamie Hunt and Christian Vitulli.
In singles, top-ranked Smith extended the Tennessee lead to 2-0 as he defeated No. 77 Schnugg, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 1, then 47th-ranked Williams beat Hunt at No. 3, 6-0, 6-1, to give the Vols a 3-0 lead.
The final four matches were all decided in tiebreakers. No. 112 Fago clinched the match for Tennessee with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Vitulli at No. 5; Oliver fell to Davey Sandgren, 6-3, 7-6, and No. 105 Tennys Sandgren beat Bernstein in a super tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 (11).
After the Vols claimed went ahead 6-0, Georgia’s 26th-ranked Garrapiz edged 40th-ranked Conkic, 6-2, 0-6, 7-6(2) at No. 2. It was a rematch of the SEC Indoor Tournament finals, won by Conkic, in January at the Racquet Club of the South.
Vitulli made his full return to the Georgia lineup after suffering a knee injury vs. USC and only playing doubles vs. Florida for the Bulldogs.
Rankings
The Georgia squad dropped out of the top-10 for only the second time this season, coming in at No. 11 in the ITA National Team Rankings released Tuesday.
Virginia is No. 1 for the 10th straight week, followed by Tennessee, Texas, Ohio State, USC, Florida, Stanford, UCLA, Baylor, and Texas A&M to round out the top-10.
The organization released a new set of individual rankings this week as well, placing Javier Garrapiz at No. 23 (up three spots) and Nate Schnugg at No. 81 (down four spots).
In doubles, Schnugg and Garrapiz came in at No. 28 (up 25 spots), while Schnugg was ranked 57th when playing with Jamie Hunt (up 13 spots).
On Deck
Following the SEC Tournament, the Bulldogs will participate in the NCAA Regionals on campus sites May 15-16. The winners of the 16 regionals advance to the NCAA Championships May 20-31 in Athens, Ga.