University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
SEC Indoors
Clean Sweep For Bulldogs At SEC Indoors
January 17, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 17, 2011
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- Stacked up against some of the premier talent in the Southeastern Conference and the nation, the No. 11 Georgia men's tennis team captured both the singles and doubles titles Monday on the final day of the SEC Coaches Indoor Championships at the University of Tennessee's Goodfriend Tennis Center.
Following three solid days of tennis and with the most players of any team remaining in the singles and doubles semifinals, Georgia capped off the weekend by picking up both tournament crowns to give the Bulldogs their 49th and 50th all-time SEC Indoor titles.
First the Bulldogs saw the doubles team of Javier Garrapiz and Hernus Pieters - the No. 2 seed - defeat Tennessee's fourth-seeded Boris Conkic and J.P. Smith by an 8-5 score.
That was followed up by junior Wil Spencer's three-set thriller over the overall No. 1 seed Eric Quigley of Kentucky. Spencer, a 9-16 seed, won the first set handily, 6-2, before Quigley rallied to take the second set 6-4. Spencer was up 6-5 in the third, but Quigley held his serve on match point to force the tiebreaker.
In the tiebreak, Spencer rolled to a 7-1 decision to take the championship by a final score of 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(1). The title is his third since joining the Bulldogs this summer, as he won the ITA Southeast Regional in October and an ITA Summer Circuit event in July.
Spencer took down each of the top three seeds throughout his run in the tournament.
"The tournament overall was really good," Spencer said. "I was a little shaky in my first match, just getting used to the courts here, but then I started to play my game. I really wanted to focus on getting a win in the quarterfinals, and then it was weird to play against Javi in the semifinals. Today in the finals I think I played pretty smart. There were no breaks in the third set, and then in the tiebreak I just was able to settle down and it worked out. I'm playing well now and I give a lot of credit to Coach [Manuel] Diaz. He's worked with me on strategy and shots and it's all paying off. I also give credit to my teammates - we all played well this weekend and had a great tournament."
Garrapiz and Pieters notched their second tournament title together this year after winning the season-opening Southern Intercollegiates in September.
UGA has fared extremely well at the SEC Indoors, now with 50 titles to its name. Georgia won either the singles or doubles every year from 2005-08 and has now won both in the same year a total of four times since the SEC adopted the current individual format in 1988. The last time Georgia won both titles in the same year was 2001 - when Bo Hodge won singles and Matias Boeker and Travis Parrott took the doubles.
"What a great day - I'm really pleased with obviously both of our wins," said head coach Manuel Diaz. "For Javi and Hernus to beat one of the top doubles teams in the country was great. They continue to play really well together. For Wil, he's taken a giant leap and I anticipate we're going to see him among the top players in the country in the next set of rankings."
"I'm really pleased with the whole team and they way they're working," Diaz added. "We're coming together and continuing to work to make ourselves as good as we can be. There's a commitment from all our guys. Now we look forward to two more weeks of preparation. We cannot get complacent. We'll continue to work to better ourselves and hopefully we can keep this play going."
Both draws - complete with the full weekend's results - are attached.
The Bulldogs will next be in action next Mon., Jan. 24 at 2:30 p.m. at Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility hosting Clemson in the season's first dual match. One leg of the ITA Kickoff will be held in Athens the following week, Jan. 29-30, with Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina joining the Bulldogs for the weekend.
GEORGIA RESULTS
Singles
(9-16) Wil Spencer, UGA, def. (1) Eric Quigley, UK, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(1)
Doubles
(2) Garrapiz/Pieters, UGA, def. (4) Conkic/Smith, UT, 8-5
