University of Georgia Athletics
2014 Season In Review
June 05, 2014 | Women's Tennis
June 5, 2014
2013-14 Season In Review
Overall: 24-5; SEC: 11-2
Home: 14-2; Away: 6-1; Neutral: 4-2
Final Ranking: No. 4
NCAA Quarterfinalist; SEC Tournament Champions
Season in Review: The Bulldogs made their 28th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, falling in the NCAA Quarterfinals to No. 8 Florida, 4-1. Georgia beat Elon (First Round), Florida State (Second Round) and Southern California (Round of 16) in route to its 22nd quarterfinal appearance in program history. Georgia is 70-26 all-time in the NCAA Championships. For the first time in school history, Georgia entered the NCAA Tournament as the country's No. 1 overall seed.
In the regular season, Georgia went 24-5 knocking off ten Top-25 opponents, five of which were among the nation's Top Ten. The Bulldogs won their seventh SEC Tournament Championship, beating No. 53 LSU, No. 11 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Alabama in three straight days. The Bulldogs' wins over Vanderbilt and Alabama both avenged regular season losses.
The Bulldogs' final 24-5 record gave them their 22nd 20+ season in program history and a final national ranking of No. 4.
Bulldogs in NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournament: Junior Lauren Herring and senior Maho Kowase advanced to the finals of the NCAA doubles tournament, becoming the fifth Bulldog pair to advance to the finals. Georgia tandems are still in search of their first national title. In singles, Herring advanced to the Round of 32 and freshman Silvia Garcia advanced to the Round of 16.
SEC Tournament Champions: It's safe to say that the 2014 squad will always have fond memories of the program's first trip to Columbia, Mo. Georgia beat LSU, before avenging regular season losses to No. 11 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Alabama in route to the program's seventh SEC Tournament Title, and first since 2009. Lilly Kimbell and Silvia Garcia were named to the All-Tournament team, with Garcia also taking home Tournament MVP honors.
Top Dogs: The Georgia women's tennis team was ranked No. 4 in the ITA's final rankings of 2014.
In addition, the Bulldogs had four singles players and three doubles pairs in the final individual rankings. Lauren Herring headlined the Georgia contingent at the No. 7 spot. Silvia Garcia and Maho Kowase followed at the Nos. 13 and 23 spots, respectively. Lilly Kimbell rounds out Georgia's presence in the singles rankings at No. 106.
In doubles, after their deep run into the NCAA doubles championship, Herring and Kowase finished ranked No. 2, while Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia concluded the season at No. 24. Lilly Kimbell was also ranked with Mia King at No. 71.
The Georgia women's tennis program is the only in the SEC to have three singles players ranked in the Top-25 and is the only school in the SEC to have two doubles pairs ranked in the Top-25. It is also one of just three programs in the country to have three singles players finish the year in the Top-25 (Cal, UCLA).
Perhaps most impressive, Georgia is the only school in the country to have three players ranked in the final Top-25 singles and doubles rankings.
As a school, Georgia is one of five schools in the country to have both its men's and women's programs ranked inside the Top-Ten.
Dawgs. Always: Georgia says goodbye to three seniors who have made a lasting impact on the program. Individual career totals can be seen at the end of this package, but its worth looking at what they've done as a group. The class will certainly go down as one of the winningest and most effective classes in program history. Here's why:
• They've combined for 318 singles wins and 342 doubles wins.
• They held a 75.4 singles and 77.4 doubles winning percentage.
• They made three NCAA Quarterfinal appearances , won an SEC regular season and tournament championship.
All-Americans: Three players took home four All-American honors this season. By virtue of being seeded in their respective draws, Lauren Herring and Silvia Garcia earned singles All-America honors and Herring and Maho Kowase earned doubles All-America honors. In the Jeff Wallace era, 29 different Bulldogs have garnered 96 All-America honors.
Other Honors:
• Three members of the Georgia women's tennis team were named to the All-SEC First Team, and one was named the SEC Player of the Year.
• Junior Lauren Herring was awarded SEC Player of the Year Honors and she, senior Maho Kowase and sophomore Silvia Garcia were named to the All-SEC First Team. Georgia is one of just two schools to have three players included on the top All-SEC team.
• Senior Kate Fuller was named to the SEC Community Service Team. She is the SEC's first four-time honoree since the award expanded to include a team for each individual sport in 2003. Also, for the second straight year, Kate Fuller won the region's Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership award
Earlier this spring, Fuller was also a 2014 Georgia "Peach of an Athlete" collegiate nominee for her work in the classroom and in the community.
• Lilly Kimbell was awarded ITA Regional Most Improved Senior of the Year. She was a career-best 30-8 in singles this season.
• Maho Kowase was named ITA Region Senior of the Year and the region's winner of the Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship. In early May, it was announced that she won the ITA's National Cissue Leary Award.
• Head Coach Jeff Wallace and Assistant Coach Drake Bernstein each won ITA Regional Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the year honors, respectively. Wallace, who this season led Georgia to its first No. 1 overall seed in program history and the program's 23rd 20-win season, has now won four ITA regional coaching awards. This is the first such honor for Bernstein.
• Junior Lauren Herring garnered SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 29 and March 19.
• After Georgia won the 2014 SEC Tournament, Kimbell and Garcia were named to the All-Tournament team. Garcia was also named the tournament's MVP.
Give Me 20: Georgia captured its 23rd 20-win season in program history. Head coach Jeff Wallace has been present for 22 of those seasons. The Bulldogs' have now hit the 20-win mark in three consecutive seasons.
Battle Tested Bulldogs: Georgia played nine Top-Ten opponents this season, having beaten five of them. Since 1994, it has beaten at least five Top-10 opponents six times. Georgia beat seven Top-10 opponents in 1994 in route to its first national championship--a record that still stands today.
Dogs on Top: After a dominating run through the SEC Tournament in April, the Bulldogs found themselves atop the rankings for the first time since March 2007. For the first time in history, the Bulldogs were the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 overal seed.
Nobody Does It Like Kowase: Maho Kowase leaves Georgia as the winningest player in program history, now holding the Georgia record for most combined career singles and doubles wins (245). Said Kowase, "It's such an honor. There have been a lot of really great players that have played here at Georgia so to be talked about with them is a great feeling."
Kate The Great: Like Kowase, Fuller ended her Bulldog career with the most career doubles wins in Georgia women's tennis history (123). Fuller passed former Georgia greats Naoko Ueshima (2007-10, 109-50), Chelsey Gullickson (2009-12, 106-42) and Cameron Ellis (2008-11, 103-54). Fuller and Garcia went 27-5 this year. Two seasons, the Fuller was 40-9 in doubles (26-4 with Garcia).
Also in the record books:
• Kowase finished second for most doubles victories in a season (38). Fuller holds the record with 40 and former Georgia great Chelsey Gullickson is third with 35.
• Kowase is second (112) and Lilly Kimbell is fourth (107) for most doubles victories in a career. Former Bulldog Naoko Ueshima sit in third at 109.
•Kowase, too, is tied for second (133) for most career singles wins with Stacey Schefflin. Shannan McCarthy leads the pack with an impressive 150 career singles wins
800-Win Club: With its 4-0 win over No. 28 Kentucky earlier this season, the Georgia women's tennis program joined an exclusive club, becoming one of just three Division I women's tennis programs in the 800-win club. The Bulldogs have 807 all-time wins. The others are Florida (953), Stanford (919) and Indiana (815).
*The NCAA and ITA records for program wins are incomplete. These totals are based on a survey of SIDs. Updated 6/1/14.
Best Fans in the Country...Literally: Georgia took home the title in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Attendance Race.
Georgia led the nation with 4,747 fans coming to watch the Bulldogs play this season. The Bulldogs averaged 396 fans over 12 matches, more than 100 more than runner-up Baylor. Athens was also the home to three of the nation's most attended matches this season (Alabama, 833; Missouri, 608; Florida, 602).
Following Georgia Women's Tennis: During the offseason, fans can check Georgiadogs.com for updates. Fans should also "Like" Georgia Women's Tennis on Facebook and follow @UGAWomensTennis on Twitter.