University of Georgia Athletics
Men's Tennis Opens Practice Wednesday
August 31, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Aug. 31, 2011
ATHENS, Ga. --- The University of Georgia men's tennis team opened its official practice slate Wednesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, going through conditioning drills before eventually breaking out the racquets.
"It was a great first day," said associate head coach Will Glenn. "The boys came out strong and did a lot of good conditioning. Everybody played a lot over the summer so we're looking good to start the year. We have some great leaders in [seniors] Ignacio [Taboada], Sadio [Doumbia], and Wil [Spencer] who did a great job getting the guys together when class started. We have some great leadership this year and we're going to go a long way."
The Bulldogs are already gearing up to kick off the 2011-12 season this weekend as they travel to Atlanta to compete against Boise State Friday and Saturday at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Georgia and the Broncos will meet over the two days to play two doubles and four singles matches before the schools' football teams clash on the field Saturday night in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff.
"We're looking to start the weekend right," Glenn said. "We'll try to take it to the Broncos and hopefully some of that will rub off on the football team."
The Bulldogs will play eight fall tournaments leading up to the 2012 dual match slate, including three at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Georgia will face a minimum of 12 NCAA Tournament teams from last season including marquee home matches vs. Georgia Tech, Ohio State, and Florida before the team hosts the 2012 NCAA Championships a record 27th time May 17-28.
Georgia returns four of six lineup regulars from the 2011 NCAA semifinal team, including the senior trio of Doumbia, Spencer, and Taboada, while adding freshman Nathan Pasha to the mix.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 24-6 campaign in which they finished as co-champions of the Southeastern Conference and reached the Final Four for the fifth time in six seasons, ending the year ranked No. 5 in the ITA poll.
